Moonlight, a Poem: with Several Copies of Verses/The Orange Tree
THE ORANGE TREE:
A SONG.
Fair blossoms the Orange, and long may it bloom,
And yield a sweet fragrance, ungrateful to Rome;
Beneath the deep shade of its time-spreading boughs,
In the bright blushing Bacchus we steep our warm vows:
O the bright Orange,
Nassau's blooming Orange,
Long, long may it blossom, the pride of that House!
And yield a sweet fragrance, ungrateful to Rome;
Beneath the deep shade of its time-spreading boughs,
In the bright blushing Bacchus we steep our warm vows:
O the bright Orange,
Nassau's blooming Orange,
Long, long may it blossom, the pride of that House!
Religion first planted the beautiful Tree,
And Liberty kept it from evil still free,
From blasts of the Winter, and blights of the Spring—
'Till, Oh! a sad Season misfortune did bring:
O the bright Orange,
Nassau's blooming Orange,
Again shall it blossom, the Garden's sweet king!
And Liberty kept it from evil still free,
From blasts of the Winter, and blights of the Spring—
'Till, Oh! a sad Season misfortune did bring:
O the bright Orange,
Nassau's blooming Orange,
Again shall it blossom, the Garden's sweet king!
God smiles on the Orange; and Men love its shade;
For the Leaves not in Winter, unchanging, will fade;
Still true to its Nature, it mocks the dark skies,
And, unharm'd by the Lightning, the tempest defies:
O the bright Orange,
Nassau's blooming Orange,
Again in new beauty its blossoms arise!
For the Leaves not in Winter, unchanging, will fade;
Still true to its Nature, it mocks the dark skies,
And, unharm'd by the Lightning, the tempest defies:
O the bright Orange,
Nassau's blooming Orange,
Again in new beauty its blossoms arise!
Then bathe its sweet Roots in the juice of the Vine,
And in Songs of bright beauty declare it divine,
Let the fairest of Women still haunt the soft shade,
And the bravest of Soldiers still rise for its aid!
O the bright Orange,
Nassau's blooming Orange,
Belov'd of all Nature, the Tree cannot fade!
And in Songs of bright beauty declare it divine,
Let the fairest of Women still haunt the soft shade,
And the bravest of Soldiers still rise for its aid!
O the bright Orange,
Nassau's blooming Orange,
Belov'd of all Nature, the Tree cannot fade!
December 21.