Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE LIBERTY POLE, by ANONYMOUS


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE LIBERTY POLE, by                    
First Line: "come listen, good neighbors of every degree"
Last Line: "derry down, down, hey derry down"
Subject(s): Freedom;u.s. - Colonial Period; Liberty


COME listen, good neighbors of every degree,
Whose hearts, like your purses, are open and free,
Let this pole a monument ever remain,
Of the folly and arts of the time-serving train.
Derry down, down, hey derry down.

Its bottom, so artfully fix'd under ground,
Resembles their scheming, so low and pro found;
The dark underminings, and base dirty ends.
On which the success of the faction depends
Derry down, etc.

The vane, mark'd with freedom, may put us in mind,
As it varies, and flutters, and turns, with the wind,
That no faith can be plac'd in the words of our foes,
Who change as the wind of their interest blows.
Derry down, etc.

The iron clasp'd around it, so firm and so neat,
Resembles too closely their fraud and deceit,
If the outside's but guarded, they care not a pin
How rotten and hollow the heart is within.
Derry down, etc.

Then away, ye pretenders to freedom, away,
Who strive to cajole us in hopes to betray;
Leave the pole for the stroke of the lightning to sever,
And, huzzah for King George and our country forever!
Derry down, etc.





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