Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ANNIVERSARY OF THE ST. ANDREW'S SOCIETY, GLASGOW, 1866, by JANET HAMILTON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ANNIVERSARY OF THE ST. ANDREW'S SOCIETY, GLASGOW, 1866, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Hail, brothers! True sons of the mother we love
Last Line: The boast of the free, and the hope of the slave.
Alternate Author Name(s): Hamilton, Janet Thompson
Subject(s): Brotherhood; Patriotism; Scotland


HAIL, Brothers! true sons of the mother we love,
Fair Scotland, free Scotland! we meet here to prove
The filial devotion, that warms as it fills
Our hearts for the Queen of the Lakes and the Hills.

With our hearts, with our hands, our blood and our breath,
The fealty we owe her in life and in death
Shall be paid at the altar of Freedom divine,
And the record inscribed on her holiest shrine.

Great WALLACE we honour, the first on the scroll
Of patriots immortal, the Godlike in soul:
Strength, valour, and glory unsullied and bright,
Thrice saving his country from tyranny's might.

Ye SONS OF ST. ANDREW! sworn brothers in heart,
You have nobly sustained the true patriot's part;
For Wallace and Scotland ye boldly stood forth,
Till success had crowned the Rock Gem of the North.

No region, no distance, no kingdom or clime,
Can sever the sympathies, high and sublime,
That the sons of old Scotland have felt and expressed
For brethren in bondage, by tyrants oppressed.

In our hearts, GARIBALDI! thy place hath been given
Near Liberty's martyr, our WALLACE in Heaven:
Like valour, like virtues, unselfish and pure;
Thou conquered, hast suffered, hast learnt to endure.

Thou, KOSSUTH, wert priest at fair Liberty's shrine,
When the Hapsburg had mingled her blood with the wine;
But the bloody libation was poured not in vain,
The priest at her shrine shall be KOSSUTH again.

Reformers, we urge not the tide of Reform
With the shock of the earthquake, the roar of the storm,
Advancing, progressive, majestic and grand,
Till sweeping resistless, it rolls o'er the land.

This night in the shade of the Thistle we meet,
As Scotsmen, as freemen, our brothers to greet.
Long may the proud emblem triumphantly wave,
The boast of the free, and the hope of the slave.





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