Poems (Coates 1916)/Volume I/Pilgrim Song
PILGRIM SONG
WRITTEN FOR THE SOCIETY OF MAYFLOWER DESCENDANTS IN THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA.
PILGRIMS of the trackless deep,
Leaving all, our fathers came,
Life and liberty to keep
In Jehovah's awful name.
Neither pillared flame nor cloud
Made the wild, for them, rejoice,
But their hearts, with sorrow bowed,
In the darkness heard His voice.
Things above them they divined—
Thoughts of God, forever true,
And the deathless Compact signed—
Building better than they knew:
Building liberty not planned,
Law that ampler life controls,
All the greatness of our land
Lying shadowed in their souls.
In the days that shall succeed,
Prouder boast no time shall grant
Than to be of them, indeed,
Children of their Covenant:
Children of the promised day,
Bound by hope and memory,
Brave, devoted, wise, as they—
Strong with love's humility.