WHY lingers my gaze where the last hues of day On the hills of my country in loveliness sleep? Too fair is the sight for a wanderer, whose way Lies far o'er the measureless worlds of the deep! Fall, shadows of twilight! and veil the green shore, That the heart of the mighty may waver no more! Why rise on my thoughts, ye free songs of the land Where the harp's lofty soul on each wild wind is borne? Be hushed, be forgotten! for ne'er shall the hand Of minstrel with melody greet my return. -- No! no! -- let your echoes still float on the breeze, And my heart shall be strong for the conquest of seas! 'Tis not for the land of my sires to give birth Unto bosoms that shrink when their trial is nigh; Away! we will bear over ocean and earth A name and a spirit that never shall die. My course to the winds, to the stars, I resign; But my soul's quenchless fire, O my country! is thine. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE STORM by KATHERINE MANSFIELD ASSUNPINK AND PRINCETON [JANUARY 3, 1777] by THOMAS DUNN ENGLISH LEXINGTON [APRIL 19, 1775] by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES EPITAPH ON THOMAS CLERE, SURREY'S FAITHFUL FRIEND AND FOLLOWER by HENRY HOWARD MY BIRD by EMILY CHUBBUCK JUDSON LOVE'S CHANGE by ANNE REEVE ALDRICH NAMELESS PAIN by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH |