 | [Poems by Whittier in] A Study of Whittier's Apprenticeship as a Poet |  |
THE SWITZERS' SONG
[_]
(This poem refers to the Revolution of 1308 when the Swiss, without bloodshed, were freed from the Austrians.)
High let the song of triumph swell,
O'er Lucerne's rock-girt sea,
Till all the mountain echoes tell
Of freedom's jubilee.
Loud as, when first the strain arose
On that remembered morn,
When o'er St. Gothard's crest of snows,
And clouded Jungfrau horn,
The genius of our mountainland
His star-lit banner, flung,
And Freedom waved her signal brand,
Where the trembling avalanche hung.
O'er Lucerne's rock-girt sea,
Till all the mountain echoes tell
Of freedom's jubilee.
Loud as, when first the strain arose
On that remembered morn,
When o'er St. Gothard's crest of snows,
And clouded Jungfrau horn,
The genius of our mountainland
His star-lit banner, flung,
And Freedom waved her signal brand,
Where the trembling avalanche hung.
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The light of that auspicious dawn,
No tide of slaughter dimmed,
Instead of drum and gathering horn,
The song of praise was hymned.
No pennons red with battle bowed
O'er guarded peak and glen,
Our fathers' trust was in their God,
Not in the strength of men.
He heard their prayer, th' oppressor's pride,
Was scattered in his wrath,
Like snows upon the mountain side,
Before the glacier's path.
No tide of slaughter dimmed,
Instead of drum and gathering horn,
The song of praise was hymned.
No pennons red with battle bowed
O'er guarded peak and glen,
Our fathers' trust was in their God,
Not in the strength of men.
He heard their prayer, th' oppressor's pride,
Was scattered in his wrath,
Like snows upon the mountain side,
Before the glacier's path.
Then let the joyous harmony
Of prayer and praise ascend,
Until the mountain eagle's cry,
With its wild music blend.
Be this our prayer, that freedom shed
Its light upon our land,
And that the hills which now we tread,
May unpolluted stand
Long as the Lauffen's rocks shall bar
The Rhine's impetuous tide,
And thunder clouds shall move to war,
Along St. Gothard's side.
Of prayer and praise ascend,
Until the mountain eagle's cry,
With its wild music blend.
Be this our prayer, that freedom shed
Its light upon our land,
And that the hills which now we tread,
May unpolluted stand
Long as the Lauffen's rocks shall bar
The Rhine's impetuous tide,
And thunder clouds shall move to war,
Along St. Gothard's side.
Haverhill Gazette, April 28, 1828
| [Poems by Whittier in] A Study of Whittier's Apprenticeship as a Poet | |