Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1883-07-18
OUR COUNTRY.
BY JOHN GBEENLEAF WHITTIER.
Read at Rosciapd Park. woodstock, Conn.,, July

Read at Roseland Park, Woodstock, Conn.,, Jul
sS}.l
We give hy natal day TO hone.
y country of our love aud prayer!
Thy way is down no fatal slop-,
But up to frCer sun and air!
Tried as by furnace fires, and yet
By Gods grace only stron ger made,
To mt e. new Ia Ks before thee set
Thou shalt not lacL the old-,ime aid.
Thy fathers sleep; but men remain
AS wise. ii true d brave as they.
Why count the loss and not the gain?
The best is that we have to-day.
Whate 'er Of folly, shame or crime
@ithin thy mighty bounds transpires,
With speed defying space and time
Comes to us on the accusing wires;
While of thy wealth of noble deeds,
Thy homes of peace, thy votes unsoldI
The love that pleads for human needs,
The wrong redressed, but half is told
Each poor wretch, in his prison cell
or gaIlows-noose, is interviewed;
W. know the single sinner well,
Aud not the nine and ninety good.
Yes, if on daily scandals fed,
We seem at times to doubt thy worth,
We know thee still, when all is said,
The best and dearest spot on earth.
From the warm Mexic Gulf, or wis re,
Belt q with flowers, Los Angeles
Basks in the genli-tTOpic air.
TO where katahdin's cedar trees
are dwarfed and bent by northern winds,
Thy plenty's horn is yearly filled;
Alone, the rounding century finds
Thy liberal soil by free hands TILED.
A refuge for the wronged and poor.
Thy generous heart has borne the blame
That, with them, through thy open door,
The old worlds evil outcasts came.
But with thy just and equal rule,
And labor's need and breadth Of lands,
Free press and rostrum, church and school,
Thy sure, if slow, transforming hands
Shall mold even them to thy design,
Making blessing of the ban;
And Freedoms chemistry combine
The alien elements Of man.
The power that broke their prison bar
And set the dusky millions free,
And welded in the flame OF war
The Union fast to Liberty,
Shall it not deal with other ills,
Redress tie red mans grievance, break
The Circean cup which shames and kills,
And Labor full requita- make?
Alone to such as fifty bear
Thy civic hOnors bid them fall,
And call thv daughters forth 70 share
The rights and duties pledged TO all 4?
No lack was in thy primal stock.
No weakllng founders builded here;
Thine were the men Of Plymouth Rock,
The HugUenOt and Cavalier,
And they whose firm endurance gained
The freedom OF the souls of men,
Whose hands, unstained by blood. maintained
The swOrdless commonwealth Of Penn.
And thine shall be the power of all
To DO the work which duty bids,
And make the peoples council Aall
As lasting os the Pyramids
Wei have thy later years made good
Thy brave-s3id word q century back,
The pledge Of human brotherhood,
The equal claim Of white and black.
That word still echoes round the world,
And al who hear it turn TO thee,
And read upon thy flag unfurled
The prophecies Of destiny.
The great worId-Iesson all shall learn,
The nations in thy schools shall sit,
Earth's fartbest nlOUntain-t0ps shall burn
With watch-hres from their own upit
Great without seeking to be great
By fraud or conquest, rich in geld,
But richer IN the large estate
Of virtue which thy children hold,
With peace that comes OF purity,
Ana strength to simple justice due,
So runs cur loyal dream of thee,
God of our fathers make il truel
o Land Of lands! to thee we give
Our prayers, our hopes. our services free;
For thee thy sons shall noblY live,
And at thy need shall die br theel