Ah, '''tis in vain the peaceful din That wakes the ignoble town, Not thus did braver spirits win A patriot'''s renown. There is one field beside this stream, Wherein no foot does fall, But yet it beareth in my dream A richer crop than all. Let me believe a dream so dear, Some heart beat high that day, Above the petty Province here, And Britain far away; Some hero of the ancient mould, Some arm of knightly worth, Of strength unbought, and faith unsold, Honored this spot of earth; Who sought the prize his heart described, And did not ask release, Whose free-born valor was not bribed By prospect of a peace. The men who stood on yonder height That day are long since gone; Not the same hand directs the fight And monumental stone. Ye were the Grecian cities then, The Romes of modern birth, Where the New England husbandmen Have shown a Roman worth. In vain I search a foreign land To find our Bunker Hill, And Lexington and Concord stand By no Laconian rill. |