West Virginia Democrat. [volume] (Charles Town, W. Va.) 1885-1890, 1888-02-24
At THE GATES Or LIBERTY.
The South Shall Claim Her Own Again.

Eternal Gates of Liberty,
Lift up your stately headsl
Behold, with bridal pageantry,
And garlandS from fair meads,
The South comes, with her sister train,
To claim her own again.
Make room upon the left and right!
What hour the clock Of destiny
Has struck departing night.
Merged in the day of Jubilee,
Star-girt, and beautifully bright,
There comes most fearlesSly, amaln,
The South 10 claim her own again!
Pleasant and wonderfully fair,
Like one that knows her own domain,
Magnolia-iowers in her hair,
And orange blossoms rare,
Let her not knock in vaini
Lift up your equal heads to her,
OF all your courts contain cO-heir,
For To-! she claims her own again!
No mendicant is at your doors,
Nor bids YOU raise Your fronts of stone!
Whose fathers built, upon these shores,
With rampire, buttreSs, bastion,
And gOdlike masonry of skill,
FaIr Freedoms all-enduring towers,
Returns, and, ii YOU will,
Within this holy fame,
Shall cherish all her own again!
Ofrock made they your stately plight,
And carved your panels with the
sword,
And hinged upon the peoples right,
To lit or close, but at their word;
SO when she bids, in conscience bold,
Your everlasting leaves unfold,
Widely they stand,
AT her command,
Whose glory shall not wane-
The South who claims her own again.
Mother of policies. and states,
The offspring of thy womb hath been
High progeny!
This day the Nation cOnSecrates
To him who watched these awful Gates,
For il and thee;
Wide-armed TO let thee in,
They ready stand, az its command,
To rend their bars IN twain,
That thou may'St claim thine own again.
What atmosphere is this surrounds
These granite heads within whose
bounds
The goddess Freedom dwell
IT'S Love, which bears with equal force,
Upon each planet in its course,
Whose music swellS,
Till all the choir join the refrain
The South shall claim her own again!
In glory differs star from star,
Vel each reSplendent, shines afav,
In its own place;
They wheel their chariOt-wheelS of tire,
They do not falter nor expire,
Nor fail from space;
In universal orders reign,
The South shall claim her own again!
We know wheretO our purpose guides,
The ship of state, 50 that she rides,
In safety ON the main;
That those eternal landmarks, set
BY Southern pilots, towering yet,
Through sunshine, storm, or rain,
Upbear this legend as their debt
The South shall claim her own again!
Shall we ignore the hero race
That StOrmed he heights of flames re-
doubt,
With tracks that time cannot etface,
Nor history falter % point out?
The womb that bear, prolific still,
Snail reproduce the noble strain
OF statesmen, SigeS, warriors, Till
The South shall claim her own again!
Fair Freedom knows whence was her
source
From out her Western height;
She will not bear the least divorce
Between the right and might;
She saws unto the North, tOrbear,
To East and West, refrain,
She thunders through the lambert air
The South shall claim her own again!
Not arrogant our attitude,
Not fretful, nor perverSe;
We know the marriage bond holds good
For better or for worse;
We recognize the founders Will,
Confirmed on battle-piain;
But this we know, for good or Ill,
The South shall claim her own again!
Who gave the people right TO rule
Ana made their voice supreme?
Who saws there il no God ; fool,
Nor is His reign dream;
He laid in law these Palace-GateS,
Nor reared their heads in vain!
HE saws unto the Sister states
The South shall claim her own again!
Great Architect! we bow the head,
And ask Thee for sign,
Such as, of old, Thy hand portrayed
Unto great Constantine;
When lOl upon the naked sky
We read engraved most plain,
Far-hashing from the vault on high
"Tke South shall claim her OicR dg0iR!'