Book 2 — SONG.
Reading edition
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BY WILLIAM H. C. HOSMER.
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(Air—“Homes of England.”)
The hallowed wells of Learning,
No wasting may they know,
But sparkle, fed by lucid streams,
Unceasing in their flow;
And may their waters catch no stain
Of deep and Stygian dye,
Though Error for an hour hold reign
Beneath a darkened sky.
The Sacred Bowers of Learning,
Be blight afar from them;
No tree grow up with serpent folds
Entwining round the stem;
No bud of precious promise feel
The frost of cold neglect,
And heard no solemn funeral peal
For Genius early wrecked.
The Stately Halls of Learning,
Forever may they stand,
And Truth walk down the sounding aisles
With Honor, hand in hand;
The columns that uphold the roof
Be men of noble mould,
And beauteous daughters, armed in proof,
Stern war with wrong to hold.
The Holy Shrines of Learning,
May no polluting flame
Be lighted on one altar-stone
By fiends who mock at shame,
But cloudless light be shed abroad
A guilty world to cheer,
And men forget to worship God
In superstitious fear.