INDEPENDENCE DAY RHYMES.
Reading edition
Words of the Poets Explain Why Hats Go Off While Flags Are Passing, Why the Eagle Screams on "The Fourth," and How Young America Became Identified With Sky-Rockets and Fire-Crackers.
ENGLAND AND AMERICA.
By Lord Tennyson.
[Signing of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776.]
O Thou, that sendest out the man To rule by land and sea, Strong mother of a lion-line, Be proud of these strong sons of thine Who wrenched their rights from thee! What wonder if in noble heat Those men thine arms withstood, Retaught the lesson thou had'st taught, And in thy spirit with thee fought— Who sprang from English blood. But thou rejoice with liberal joy, Lift up thy rocky face, And shatter, when the storms are black, In many a streaming torrent back, The seas that shook thy base! Whatever harmonies of law The growing world assume, Thy work is thine—the single note From that deep chord which Hampden smote Will vibrate to the doom.
THE FLAG GOES BY.
By H.H. Bennett.
Hats off! Along the street there comes A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums, A flash of color beneath the sky; Hats off! The flag is passing by. Blue and crimson and white it shines Over the steel-tipped ordered lines. Hats off! The colors before us fly; But more than the flag is passing by. Sea fights and land fights, grim and great, Fought to make and to save the state; Weary marches, and sinking ships; Cheers of victory on dying lips. Days of plenty and days of peace; March of a strong land's swift increase; Equal justice, right, and law, Stately honor, and reverent awe. Sign of a nation, great and strong To ward her people from foreign wrong; Pride and glory and honor, all Live in the colors to stand or fall. Hats off! Along the street there comes A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums; And loyal hearts are beating high; Hats off! The flag is passing by! Youth's Companion.
INDEPENDENCE BELL.
Anonymous.
This poem, which has long been a favorite in school readers, describes the emotions of the people of Philadelphia on that memorable day in July, 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was signed. It was resolved by Congress that the signing should be announced to the people by the ringing of the old Philadelphia State-house bell, now the most venerated relic of those stirring days. By a strange coincidence, the bell, cast years before the Declaration was dreamed of, bears the following inscription, from the Bible: "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof."
There was tumult in the city, In the quaint old Quakers' town, And the streets were rife with people, Pacing restless up and down— People gathering at corners, Where they whispered each to each, And the sweat stood on their temples, With the earnestness of speech. As the bleak Atlantic currents Lash the wild Newfoundland shore, So they beat against the State-house, So they surged against the door; And the mingling of their voices Made a harmony profound, Till the quiet street of Chestnut Was all turbulent with sound. "Will they do it?" "Dare they do it?" "Who is speaking?" "What's the news?" "What of Adams?" "What of Sherman?" "Oh, God grant they won't refuse!" "Make some way there!" "Let me nearer!" "I am stifling!" "Stifle, then! When a nation's life's at hazard, We've no time to think of men!" So they beat against the portal, Man and woman, maid and child; And the July sun in heaven On the scene looked down and smiled; The same sun that saw the Spartan Shed his patriot blood in vain, Now beheld the soul of freedom All unconquered rise again. See! See! The dense crowd quivers Throughout all its lengthy line, As the boy beside the portal Looks forth to give the sign! With his small hands upward lifted, Breezes dallying with his hair, Hark! with deep, clear intonation, Breaks his young voice on the air. Hushed the people's swelling murmur, List the boy's strong, joyous cry! "Ring!" he shouts, "RING! Grandpa, RING! OH, RING FOR LIBERTY!" And straightway at the signal The old bellman lifts his hand, And sends the good news, making Iron music through the land. How they shouted! What rejoicing! How the old bell shook the air, Till the clang of freedom ruffled The calm, gliding Delaware! How the bonfires and the torches Illumined the night's repose, And from the flames, like Phœnix, Fair Liberty arose!
THE REPUBLIC.
By Henry W. Longfellow.
Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State! Sail on, O Union, strong and great! Humanity with all its fears, With all the hopes of future years, Is hanging breathless on thy fate! We know what Master laid thy keel, What Workmen wrought thy ribs of steel, Who made each mast, and sail, and rope, What anvils rang, what hammers beat, In what a forge and what a heat Were shaped the anchors of thy hope! Fear not each sudden sound and shock, 'Tis of the wave and not the rock; 'Tis but the flapping of the sail, And not a rent made by the gale! In spite of rock and tempest's roar, In spite of false lights on the shore. Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea! Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee. Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, Our faith triumphant o'er our fears, Are all with thee—are all with thee!
A PREJUDICE.
They say that we're short on a national song; They're calling on genius to hustle An' make up a piece that'll startle the throng An' give the old-timers a tussle. I reckon our folks must be clean out o' date— That is, if we're jedged by the manner In which we're accustomed to all congregate A-singin' "The Star-Spangled Banner." "Oh, long may it wave!" When we git to that part There's somethin' more to it than singin'. It's a prayer that devoutly goes forth from each heart As the chorus is risin' and ringin'. So mother an' me an' the gals an' the boys Gathers 'round our old-fashioned pianner, And whatever of talent each has he employs A-singin' "The Star-Spangled Banner." The source of the tune doesn't worry me none. I never ask, "Where did they git it?" It was destiny if, when the writin' got done, The music was waitin' to fit it. An' I feel that it echoes from sea unto sea Whenever our youngest—that's Hanner— Strikes a chord deep and full so's to give us the key, An' we jine in "The Star-Spangled Banner." Washington Star.