The Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier/The Quakers are out
THE QUAKERS ARE OUT
[A campaign song written to be sung at a Republican Mass Meeting held in Newburyport, Mass., October 11, 1860.]
Not vainly we waited and counted the hours,
The buds of our hope have all burst into flowers.
No room for misgiving—no loop-hole of doubt,—
We ’ve heard from the Keystone! The Quakers are out.
The plot has exploded—we ’ve found out the trick;
The bribe goes a-begging; the poison won’t stick.
When the Wide-awake lanterns are shining about,
The rogues stay at home, and the true men are out!
The good State has broken the cords for her spun;
Her oil-springs and water won’t fuse into one;
The Dutchman has seasoned with Freedom his krout,
And slow, late, but certain, the Quakers are out!
Give the flags to the winds! set the hills all aflame!
Make way for the man with the Patriarch’s name!
Away with misgiving—away with all doubt,
For Lincoln goes in, when the Quakers are out!