OUR NATION'S SLAVERY.
Is this the country boasting freedom's reign,
The highest good a nation can obtain;
Where no slave murmurs at his thankless lot,
Where all the rights of liberty are taught;
Where white and black alike rejoice to pay
Their tribute to the matters of the day;
Where tongue and pen declare their action free,
And call their land a land of liberty?
O Goddess! from thy exalted throne look down
Upon the land once cursed by slavery's frown,
But now in this thrice blest enlightened day,
Declaring that no tyrant hand shall sway
The laws that flourish for a nation's good,
So dearly purchased by a nation's blood.
Look down upon the crowds that throng the street,
On restless hands, and busy, hurrying feet;
Look in upon the homes of every grade,
Homes 'neath the wide-furled flag of freedom made;
In the great cities, crowded side by side,
And o'er the country scattered far and wide.
Here, clustered in a growing, thriving town,
There, nestled in the mountains, bare and brown;
Or where the rivers wash their verdant banks,
And dancing eddies play their noisy pranks.
In vine-wreathed valleys where Spring first awakes,
On ocean-cliffs, or shores of inland lakes;
Whether by mountains crowned or city domes,
These countless dwellings are the nation's homes;
'Tis here the child begins to realize,
The stage of life where all his future lies;
And here those first impressions leave their trace,
That coming years can never quite erase.
And in these homes are formed the minds that mold
The highest good a nation can obtain;
Where no slave murmurs at his thankless lot,
Where all the rights of liberty are taught;
Where white and black alike rejoice to pay
Their tribute to the matters of the day;
Where tongue and pen declare their action free,
And call their land a land of liberty?
O Goddess! from thy exalted throne look down
Upon the land once cursed by slavery's frown,
But now in this thrice blest enlightened day,
Declaring that no tyrant hand shall sway
The laws that flourish for a nation's good,
So dearly purchased by a nation's blood.
Look down upon the crowds that throng the street,
On restless hands, and busy, hurrying feet;
Look in upon the homes of every grade,
Homes 'neath the wide-furled flag of freedom made;
In the great cities, crowded side by side,
And o'er the country scattered far and wide.
Here, clustered in a growing, thriving town,
There, nestled in the mountains, bare and brown;
Or where the rivers wash their verdant banks,
And dancing eddies play their noisy pranks.
In vine-wreathed valleys where Spring first awakes,
On ocean-cliffs, or shores of inland lakes;
Whether by mountains crowned or city domes,
These countless dwellings are the nation's homes;
'Tis here the child begins to realize,
The stage of life where all his future lies;
And here those first impressions leave their trace,
That coming years can never quite erase.
And in these homes are formed the minds that mold
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