Melodies, duets, trios, songs, and ballads, pastoral, amatory, sentimental, patriotic, religious, and miscellaneous Together with metrical epistles, tales and recitations |
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PROGRESS OF IMPROVEMENT. |
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 | Melodies, duets, trios, songs, and ballads, pastoral, amatory, sentimental, patriotic, religious, and miscellaneous |  |
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PROGRESS OF IMPROVEMENT.
Yes, blest Columbians!—In this favour'd clime,
What new-born beauties mark the track of time!
His every footstep, through the forest's gloom,
Gives birth to flowerets of unfading bloom.
No crumbling towers (the monuments of pride
And stern oppression) at his touch divide;
No fertile fields here fade beneath his tread,
No smoke of blazing cities wreathes his head;
But in his path a blushing Eden springs,
While countless joys are scatter'd from his wings!
What new-born beauties mark the track of time!
His every footstep, through the forest's gloom,
Gives birth to flowerets of unfading bloom.
No crumbling towers (the monuments of pride
And stern oppression) at his touch divide;
No fertile fields here fade beneath his tread,
No smoke of blazing cities wreathes his head;
But in his path a blushing Eden springs,
While countless joys are scatter'd from his wings!
Our late departed guest, brave La Fayette,
To whom Columbia owes so vast a debt,
With almost speechless joy and wonder, traced
Refinement's progress through the savage waste,
Where erst his youthful arm had bared the blade,
The drooping cause of liberty to aid;
When from a princely court he sped his way
To meet the foes of freedom in the fray;
Resolved for glory's dazzling goal to run,
And share the prize with none but Washington!
To whom Columbia owes so vast a debt,
With almost speechless joy and wonder, traced
Refinement's progress through the savage waste,
Where erst his youthful arm had bared the blade,
The drooping cause of liberty to aid;
When from a princely court he sped his way
To meet the foes of freedom in the fray;
Resolved for glory's dazzling goal to run,
And share the prize with none but Washington!
Where then dark forests echoed war's alarms,
The veteran now beheld rich cultured farms!
With meadows, orchards, fields of waving grain,
And herds of cattle grazing on the plain!
Where then the wolf and panther prowl'd for prey,
He now beheld our flocks in safety stray!
Saw lowing kine supply the milk-maid's pail,
Where antlered stags once bounded through the vale!
And heard the shepherd's wild-notes sweetly swell
O'er the rocks once startled by the Indian yell!
The veteran now beheld rich cultured farms!
With meadows, orchards, fields of waving grain,
And herds of cattle grazing on the plain!
Where then the wolf and panther prowl'd for prey,
He now beheld our flocks in safety stray!
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Where antlered stags once bounded through the vale!
And heard the shepherd's wild-notes sweetly swell
O'er the rocks once startled by the Indian yell!
More westward still, he turn'd his wondering eyes,
Where hamlets, towns, and villages, arise
Along the course of that stupendous chain
Which now unites fair Erie to the main.
Commerce was there, in all his golden pride,
With blooming agriculture at his side;
While smiling plenty followed in their train,
And pour'd her bounties o'er the teeming plain;
The chief beheld, and felt his bosom glow,
To view the blessings which from freedom flow.
Where hamlets, towns, and villages, arise
Along the course of that stupendous chain
Which now unites fair Erie to the main.
Commerce was there, in all his golden pride,
With blooming agriculture at his side;
While smiling plenty followed in their train,
And pour'd her bounties o'er the teeming plain;
The chief beheld, and felt his bosom glow,
To view the blessings which from freedom flow.
But when he saw the sages of the land
Convened, to place in some deserving hand
The reins of power, the car of state to guide,
In peace or war, whatever fate betide;
A chief installed, without that vain parade
Which dazzles vassals when their kings are made—
Fired with the moral grandeur of the scene,
With tear-drops gushing from an eye serene,
He saw—he heard—and with expanding breast,
Pronounced Columbia's sons supremely blest.
Convened, to place in some deserving hand
The reins of power, the car of state to guide,
In peace or war, whatever fate betide;
A chief installed, without that vain parade
Which dazzles vassals when their kings are made—
Fired with the moral grandeur of the scene,
With tear-drops gushing from an eye serene,
He saw—he heard—and with expanding breast,
Pronounced Columbia's sons supremely blest.
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