 | ["Out in the cold", in] Poetry lyrical, narrative, and satirical of the Civil War |  |
25
“OUT IN THE COLD.”
What is the threat? “Leave her out in the cold!”
Loyal New England, too loyally bold:
Hater of treason,—ah! that is her crime!
Lover of Freedom,—too true for her time!
Loyal New England, too loyally bold:
Hater of treason,—ah! that is her crime!
Lover of Freedom,—too true for her time!
Out in the cold? Oh, she chooses the place,
Rather than share in a sheltered disgrace;
Rather than sit at a cannibal feast;
Rather than mate with the blood-reeking beast!
Rather than share in a sheltered disgrace;
Rather than sit at a cannibal feast;
Rather than mate with the blood-reeking beast!
Leave out New England? And what will she do,
Stormy-browed sisters, forsaken by you?
Sit on her Rock, her desertion to weep?
Or, like a Sappho, plunge thence in the deep?
Stormy-browed sisters, forsaken by you?
Sit on her Rock, her desertion to weep?
Or, like a Sappho, plunge thence in the deep?
No; our New England can put on no airs,—
Nothing will change the calm look that she wears:
Life 's a rough lesson she learned from the first,
Up into wisdom through poverty nursed.
Nothing will change the calm look that she wears:
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Up into wisdom through poverty nursed.
Not more distinct on his tables of stone
Was the grand writing to Moses made known,
Than is engraven, in letters of light,
On her foundations the One Law of Right.
Was the grand writing to Moses made known,
Than is engraven, in letters of light,
On her foundations the One Law of Right.
She is a Christian: she smothers her ire,
Trims up the candle, and stirs the home fire;
Thinking and working and waiting the day
When her wild sisters shall leave their mad play.
Trims up the candle, and stirs the home fire;
Thinking and working and waiting the day
When her wild sisters shall leave their mad play.
Out in the cold, where the free winds are blowing;
Out in the cold, where the strong oaks are growing;
Guards she all growths that are living and great,—
Growths to rebuild every tottering State.
Out in the cold, where the strong oaks are growing;
Guards she all growths that are living and great,—
Growths to rebuild every tottering State.
“Notions” worth heeding to shape she has wrought,
Lifted and fixed on the granite of thought:
What she has done may the wide world behold!
What she is doing, too, out in the cold!
Lifted and fixed on the granite of thought:
What she has done may the wide world behold!
What she is doing, too, out in the cold!
Out in the cold! she is glad to be there,
Breathing the north wind, the clear healthful air;
Saved from the hurricane passions that rend
Hearts that once named her a sister and friend.
Breathing the north wind, the clear healthful air;
Saved from the hurricane passions that rend
Hearts that once named her a sister and friend.
There she will stay, while they bluster and foam,
Planning their comfort when they shall come home;
Building the Union an adamant wall,
Freedom-cemented, that never can fall.
Planning their comfort when they shall come home;
Building the Union an adamant wall,
Freedom-cemented, that never can fall.
Freedom,—dear-bought with the blood of her sons,—
See the red current! right nobly it runs!
Life of her life is not too much to give
For the dear Nation she taught how to live.
See the red current! right nobly it runs!
Life of her life is not too much to give
For the dear Nation she taught how to live.
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Vainly they shout to you, sturdy Northwest!
'T is her own heart that beats warm in your breast;
Sisters in nature as well as in name;
Sisters in loyalty, true to that claim.
'T is her own heart that beats warm in your breast;
Sisters in nature as well as in name;
Sisters in loyalty, true to that claim.
Freedom your breath is, O broad-shouldered North!
Turn from the subtle miasma gone forth
Out of the South land, from Slavery's fen,
Battening demons, but poisoning men!
Turn from the subtle miasma gone forth
Out of the South land, from Slavery's fen,
Battening demons, but poisoning men!
Still on your Rock, my New England, sit sure,
Keeping the air for the great country pure!
There you the “wayward” ones yet shall enfold:
There they will come to you, out in the cold!
Keeping the air for the great country pure!
There you the “wayward” ones yet shall enfold:
There they will come to you, out in the cold!
| ["Out in the cold", in] Poetry lyrical, narrative, and satirical of the Civil War | |