Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1859-05-19

With fervent thoughts, o muse. my mind inspire,
And teach my hand To wake the heavenly Tyre:
The loiticst strain, o. give me 10 command,
To sing the giOries If my native land.
No Censure meets child's too partial love,
Who lauds lis parents worth ali men above;
Affections sacred faith with virtGe blends,
And, though wise or blad, II none O1eHds.
So patriot bards, in songs more fond than true,
on praise their country when praise is due
With partial love they every bieuiish dress,
While fancied good is all that they plssess.
Bot, y Americal what mortal strain
Can the full measure OF thy worth e9HsaiB?
What utmost stretch Of human thought can span
Thy rich DOMAIN Of lavish good to Taan1
whose verse can live ia thy eternal ttme,
Or bear the lustre OF thy star set name.
Here Hope andJoy IN radiant union shine,
With glorious Liberty, Thy fright Divine"
Wide rolling seas thy sacred coasts eLhoh,
To separate the New World from the Old
Natures grand meats round Freedoms Holy land,
To guard Heavens gifts from tyrantis iron hand.
Thy borders stretch from where bleak winters
wraps Nature in the snowy shrouds OF death;
Where virtue, strength, and energy sublime,
Endue the sons Of rig 'rous Northern cline:
To where tropic sun and genial breeze
Invite the SOuthron 10 luxurious ease;
Amid magnolia shade, and rich perfume,
And groves ambTOsiIl with the orange bloom
thus chimes that husbardry may raise
THE wheat, the rye. ting barley, and the maiz,
To make thy garncTedssior ea.th's granary,
Where charity may feed ana gold may buy,
And tribute bring from earth's dependent need,
For cotton hbre and uicotian weed.
Grand mountain ranges drink from clouds the rains
And send majestic rivers through thy plans,
Upon whose waters gallant steamers ride,
To bear interior wealth 10 outward tide.
Thy eastern coast is docScd with Harts OF trade,
Where merchant princes are by traffic made;
Whose sumpluous taste, ami rich paiatla state,
Old EUrGpe's prUuicst cites emulate.
Thence, westward, roll away thy fertile plains;
That yieid such plenty ~ the farmers pains.
Vast praIries sweep IN seas Of turfy soil,
Where grasses spring without the aid Of toll;
Noble Old forests with ILcir giants tax
The craitsrnan's saw, the wooaman's telling axe,
Where nature wild her my Rad family feds
With clustering berry, dropping nuts and seeds,
Then hill aud valley, strean,let, lake and sky,
In vari gated beauty charm the eye;
soft, baImy brct catch the fragrant breath
OF dewy flowers that carpet all the heath;
And "arblmg birds, IA JOYOUS Concert raise
10 smiling nature notes OF grateful praise;
Wine every spot Is animate ami rife
With happy bUZ # sNaTmIng insect life.
Thus kind Benehcence, with b"unteous hand,
Stre"s choicest blessings Ger our iavcred land,
While meath the surface lie exhaustess stores
Or iron, copper, lead, and other ores.
Mans every need here rIcn provision finds,
And no dependent want our progress binds.
Nor yet has nature stintcd her supplies,
To meet alone man : chief necessities:
But widest freaks she plays in her domain,
Our wondering admiration u eHChain:
In malchlcss grandeur rolls Niagara,
Whose thunoeTs I'LL the soul with sBceChcss awe;
lhen nature afchng Bridge stupendous, stands,
To shame all rival work OF human hands;
Whlle Mammoth Caverns penetrate the earth;
To where mysterious echoes have their birth;
Where grim staagmites mark the lapse Of time,
As, drop by drop, tne water heaps It's lime,
Aud nigh stalactite domes, by torches light,
illusions perfect give OF starry night.
As civihZat on trode these amopg,
At every step magic city sprung,
Whose courts now bOuutruLs wealth and fulness
swell,
Where men, ct living, heard the savage yell
Ger all the scene peace huIus CDChAHt Ig sway,
With town and vi!le to line the travelled way.
Beyond these s,cI.cs, towards the western sky,
Ia Wild, uupeuplcd waste, vast regions lie,
Where nature spreads in panoramic view,
Her fields Tor countless ages 10 sabdue.
Here, IN the distance that the vision Strains,
Like scTpruts seem tie long migrating trains;
E,SA
With Indian hunters c"uIsIng N the chase.
Then h. the ii Dorado OF the Wet,
Where glazed spcndOrs p ,rtng day invest;
Whose mountains drink the clouds sunusing tnts,
And goli'n ingots mould for coming mlnts,
Ent.ciDg man To seek their glitterIHG store,
Aud haste TIE popping Of fdcIic's shore;
That Freedom : halo, fully drChHg here,
May, radiant, h-ht tue whole terrestrial sphere.
o land OF promIsc bcsi abode of mani
o larcst spot IN all creations plan!
What gratItuGe Ia every bosom CLOVIS
To natures God, whose love perennial flows,
Ia richest bountics, DER our heritage,
Tn, quaIlci since tie PaTidisian age
Yet n.ooSing nf's were these from natures hand,
IL lett to tyrant's rule and stern command;
II selfish pride, and ponp, and royal might,
Should here DEFY IN" law Of equal right;
Nay, mid these forest fields, these Sunlit plains,
Is where the God 81 nature only rcIgus.
No 'o,tstuol tins for earthly rut-uttte-
No lit stage tins for pomp AMI lordly state
When stern oppression sought these coasts to bind,
Tie God Of freedom hrcd the nation mind,
And victory gave To US, yet not too soon,
To cheaper, by too ready git, the boon.
The glorious sun Of Independence ros-t
20 when our fathers Ia their councils sat,
To form a charter for the new born state,
Familiar only with monarchal sway,
Superna wisdom ruled the joyous day,
And gave them itllh and Prc5cruCe to decree
Alpowcr in the peoples sovereignty;
On equal Laws to ground "a common good
In love - found a nations brsther hood.
happy laudl where irecHen rule by choice;
Each sovereign, yet supreme the public voice;
Where speech and free opinion none SUPPRESS
And public virtue modcrdt's exc -.
Religious Thought here hnds iull licensed course,
And truth Triumphant spurIs all human f,rce;
40 barb'roUs laws to make miSchauce "a crime,
In dungeon wallis 10 waste debtors tim;
No prviies birth nor wealth, make prctgnce,
Offending Gud, aud shocking mmuu sense;
For should man guilty prIIe assume caste,
he wheel OF fortune turns, and first Is Last;
OR hated, he may exc ms selfish lot
Aut dies unwcp pit, and then is soon forgot
Aud no pItr cltu rank t. saura the hand
That tolls IA honest love of Heavens command;
But equal Hll, with minds or hands who plod,
And wortiic,t he who sands approx cd Of God.
man who would these cherished blessings slight
Would rob himself Of IueIyIdua right:
Would spnhhs country aud bctray ms God:
Unworthy such To walk Gu freedoms SDdl
These Curious rights have stirred our native
Thought,
And freu the souls OF statesmen who bave wrought
Triumphant dcoIs, that 1--we 900 his,ory's page
To gid the past and light umes latest age
Poets have caught the glow these truths have shed,
Aud drunk new beauties o'cr country spread,
3" wake their huris To- strains OF ioltest song,
That all the echpug future stall prol'uE.
Have giories round our couutry's fame cntwincd;
Science has utilized the lghmugs dart,
Aud rode the Clr,Ug winds with faithful chart,
Inventive genius sIrcws her trophies round,
And crJudcSt works of every craft abound;
While Labor, holy Labor. as she smiles,
Builds Freedoms prUultst monumental piles.
Thus, q America! thy name shall stand,
The synonym Of al that's true Ind grand:
In proud hvucibtuty Of right,
sublime IN peaceful consciousness ufmlght,
Thy rapid march dcdcs ali earthly force
Heaven points thee onward IN thy glorious course.
The huluwcd Union of these sovereign States,
Thy power, thy fame, thy name pcrpttuates.
One Kindred hope and pride thy people bind,
One Common impulse moves the nations mind.
let foreign dCsputs irimpic on Thy right,
And where j. he that burns not for thc eight?
Il, let their troddcn subjects u come,
To seek IN thee asylum and home,
la welcome, then, We throw thy portals wide,
And all our common good with them divide,
Ay, foes or traitors shall attempt IN vain
T. rend the Union, eHdcarcd, u twain:
Thy peoples vengeance shall ON all be hurled
Who'd blast the hopes, the freedom OF the world.
Nay, while religion, truth, aud virtue reign,
Tuis glorious Union sha intact remain;
lnsrV rate North and south, or Est and West,
Aud as one ~ hole, cunfed rate nation blest;
TIL great Jehovah, closing time, shall roll
Tue heavens together, as a mighty scroll;
Then, on eternal night, the last I.umtniug star,
To shed parting ray, shall be AmerCs,l
Tho Gars..nu a