| |
| THE BREAKING waves dashed high | |
| On a stern and rock-bound coast, | |
| And the woods against a stormy sky | |
| Their giant branches tossed; | |
| |
| And the heavy night hung dark | 5 |
| The hills and waters o’er, | |
| When a band of exiles moored their bark | |
| On the wild New England shore. | |
| |
| Not as the conqueror comes, | |
| They, the true-hearted, came; | 10 |
| Not with the roll of the stirring drums, | |
| And the trumpet that sings of fame; | |
| |
| Not as the flying come, | |
| In silence and in fear;— | |
| They shook the depths of the desert gloom | 15 |
| With their hymns of lofty cheer. | |
| |
| Amidst the storm they sang, | |
| And the stars heard, and the sea; | |
| And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang | |
| To the anthem of the free! | 20 |
| |
| The ocean eagle soared | |
| From his nest by the white wave’s foam; | |
| And the rocking pines of the forest roared,— | |
| This was their welcome home! | |
| |
| There were men with hoary hair | 25 |
| Amidst that pilgrim band;— | |
| Why had they come to wither there, | |
| Away from their childhood’s land? | |
| |
| There was woman’s fearless eye, | |
| Lit by her deep love’s truth; | 30 |
| There was manhood’s brow, serenely high, | |
| And the fiery heart of youth. | |
| |
| What sought they thus afar? | |
| Bright jewels of the mine? | |
| The wealth of seas, the spoils of war?— | 35 |
| They sought a faith’s pure shrine! | |
| |
| Ay, call it holy ground, | |
| The soil where first they trod; | |
| They have left unstained what there they found,— | |
| Freedom to worship God. | 40 |
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