Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 36, Pages 65-66
THE ENGLISH BOY.
BY MRS HEMANS.
"Go, call thy sons; instruct them what a debt
They owe their ancestors; and make them swear
To pay it, by transmitting down entire
Those sacred rights to which themselves were born."
Akenside.
Look from the ancient mountains down,
My noble English Boy!
Thy country's fields around thee gleam
In sunlight and in joy.
Ages have roll'd since foeman's march
Pass'd o'er that old firm sod;
For well the land hath fealty held
To Freedom and to God!
Gaze proudly on, my English Boy!
And let thy kindling mind
Drink in the spirit of high thought
From every chainless wind!
There, in the shadow of old Time,
The halls beneath thee lie,
Which pour'd forth to the fields of yore,
Our England's chivalry.
