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THE CHARTER-OAK, AT HARTFORD.
THE CHARTER-OAK, AT HARTFORD,
TO THE GREAT OAK OF GENESEO.
Glorious Patriarch of the West!
Often have mine ears been blest
With some tale from traveller wight,
Of thy majesty and might,
Rearing high, on column proud,
Massy verdure toward the cloud,
While thy giant branches throw
Coolness o'er the vales below.
Humbler rank, indeed, is mine,
Yet I boast a kindred line,
And though Nature spared to set
On my head thy coronet,
Still, from history's scroll I claim
Somewhat of an honored name;
So, I venture, kingly tree,
Thus to bow myself to thee.
Once there came, in days of yore,
A minion from the mother shore,