Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TO DELAWARE, by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO DELAWARE, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Thrice welcome to thy sisters of the east
Last Line: Glory and praise to god! Another state is free!
Subject(s): Delaware; Emancipation Movement & Proclamation; Antislavery Movement - United States


THRICE welcome to thy sisters of the East,
To the strong tillers of a rugged home,
With spray-wet locks to Northern winds released,
And hardy feet o'erswept by ocean's foam;
And to the young nymphs of the golden West,
Whose harvest mantles, fringed with prairie bloom,
Trail in the sunset, -- O redeemed and blest,
To the warm welcome of thy sisters come!
Broad Pennsylvania, down her sailwhite bay
Shall give thee joy, and Jersey from her plains,
And the great lakes, where echo, free alway,
Moaned never shoreward with the clank of chains,
Shall weave new sun-bows in their tossing spray,
And all their waves keep grateful holiday,
And, smiling on thee through her mountain rains,
Vermont shall bless thee; and the granite peaks,
And vast Katahdin o'er his woods, shall wear
Their snow-crowns brighter in the cold, keen air;
And Massachusetts, with her rugged cheeks
O'errun with grateful tears, shall turn to thee,
When, at thy bidding, the electric wire
Shall tremble northward with its words of fire;
Glory and praise to God! another State is free!





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