Arkansas democratic banner., 1851-09-23
THE SONG or IRON.

Wheie the ctaier's h,rid clouds aspire
 Der the darkened palns below; Let the weight of your pandrous hammers smite With the power of the mountain stream; Or thunder beneath the earthquake might That dwells in the arm of steaml Tho can not boast the diamonds hue, The tempting gleam of gold, With which, by the arts of the grasping few, The nations are bought and sold; Yet in my presence more priceless lar
 Than the blaze of tbc earths royal gem, That ever has knded ducal star,
 Or famed in diadem. In the fearful depths of the rayless mine
 My giant strength was laid, Ere the sun, the moon, or the stars that shine In the boundless heavens were made; Ere darkness was rolled from the deep away; Ere the skies were spread abroad; Ere the words that called up the light of day Were breathed by the lips of God! Ye were but poor and powerleSs race
 Till ye wisely sought ny aid; Ye dweit like the beasts of the savage chase, In the gloom of the forest shade; Where often the nomad yielded his hearth To the wolf in pale alright, And the tooth Of the lion stained the earth With the blood of the troglodyte. How helpless ye saw the descending rain, The w0ter's resistless flow, The frost that scared the verdant plan,
 And the blinding drifts of snow! For you no steer his neck would yield
 No Steed your slave would be; Ye trae'd no furrows along the field,
 No pathways OCT the sea! The myriad stars came forth at even;
 The bow Of God was bent, Inscribine the wondrous laws of Heaven Der the measureless tirmament. Bright cancellations rose and fed
 The fair moon waxed and waned; But the record which they nightly spread Unknown to you remained. But when some president spark of mind Invaded my lone retreat, Aud ye learned my Proteas form to bind, And fashion, with fervent heat, The gleaming sword from the flames leap'd out-- And the hook for the golden grain: And the air grew vocal with freedoms shout Where the tyrants of earth were slainl Then rose the dome and lofty tower
 Where the groaBing forest fell; And the massive guns Iook'd frUwning OCT The walls of the citadel. The dizzy and tapering steeple sprung,
 And flashed in the summer air; And the pendant bell in the turret swung
 To summon the world 10 prayer! Stout ships encountered the bowling storms On the tIackless sea secure; For held the fate of their gallant forms,
 And my grasp IS strong and sure, Midst the lightnngs gleam and the tempests roar, They feared not the angry main, For they cast their tiuSty anchors OCT,
 And laughed at the hurricane. At my touch the massive column soardl The graceful arch was thrownl And forms oi beauty the world adored
 Rose up in deathlesS stone. Ne riyalled the tints of the hiushing dawn
 With the hues my dust supplied, Till the humblest work of arl has shown Like the mist by ralnbows dyed. I come where the suffering patient lies
 On his couch, all wan aud weak; and the lnstre returns to his sunken eyes, And the bloom to his pallid cheek. Ye fear not inc roar of the thunder leRd;
 Ye sleep with ihc storms around; For the bolt clutch in the threatening cloud Falls harmless to tbe ground.
 The old hills disappear; And draw each distant hostile State,
 In friendly commerce, neaT Swift through veins by the lightning hurl'd, Yony thoughts like the tempest sweep, Til knowledge has covered the rolling world, As the waters have covered the deep And soon ye shall see my massive ore N In inanya grander pie Than ever adorned the FibePs shore,
 Or the banks of he ancient Nile. The sacred temple shall rear its roof,
 The cottage for social giee, The irowning fortress, thunder proof,
 And the ships of every sea. Then hurral Ye fearless sons of toil,
 Your nations stfength and pride! May ye reap harvest of golden spoil Der the earth asd tie ocean wide May your pondrous hammers ever ssnl,e With the power Of ihe mountain stream; Or fhandet beneath the earthquake might That dwelis ii the arm of stesml