University of Virginia Library


237

HYMN.

(FOR THE ANNIVERSARY AT PLYMOUTH IN 1853.)

Beneath the hallowed ground where now ye tread,
New England's first and holiest martyrs sleep,
And ocean waves to celebrate the dead
Lift the eternal anthems of the deep.
And here their mighty spirits linger long,
They walk abroad through all the hallowed air,
And where a pulse for Freedom beats more strong,
Know ye that pilgrim blood is coursing there.
O ye whose sacred dust on Burial Hill
Kind mother Earth in holy trust contains!
Above the cause ye loved keep watching still,
And roll your fire through all our languid veins.
Then from New England's hills, afar and near,
A light shall stream in columns to the skies,
And like a new Aurora, shall appear
Where'er a race in chains and darkness lies.