University of Virginia Library


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THE HOME OF THE FREE.

[_]

Tune—“To the West.”

Oh the land, the dear land, the true home of the free,
Is England, our country, that looks on the sea;
No mountains surround her, she open doth lie,
With her feet in the ocean, her head in the sky.

CHORUS.

'Tis for her we now arm, her wide shores to defend,
Where the exile is welcomed by many a friend;
'Tis for England we'll battle, that she may still be
A harbour of refuge, a home of the free!

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II

We have fields which brave heroes once shook with their tread,
And old hoary churches where slumber our dead;
We have deeds that stand graved on the bright scroll of fame,
And the whole rounded world rings with England's proud name.
Chor. 'Tis for her we now arm, &c.

III

Our forefathers left us this freedom to keep,
When in the red battle they laid down to sleep;
They knew we should guard it while ever we'd breath,
Nor meet them ashamed on the dark shores of death.
Chor. 'Tis for them we now arm, &c.

IV

Ah! little they know us who think we should be
Contented if ever we ceased to be free;
Better war, better death, after long years of strife,
Than to live for one moment a slave's hated life.
Chor. 'Tis for that we now arm, &c.

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V

Then arm, comrades, arm! we never will shame
Hampden, or Sidney, or great Milton's name;
They wrote and they fought, that England might be
A harbour of refuge, a home of the free.
Chor. 'Tis for her we now arm, &c.
T. M.