WHAT! still does the mother of treason uprear
Her crest 'gainst the furies that darken her sea,
Unquelled by mistrust, and unblanched by a fear,
Unbowed her proud head, and unbending her knee,
Calm, steadfast and free!
Ay! launch your red lightnings! blaspheme in your wrath!
Shock earth, wave, and heaven with the blasts of your ire;
But she seizes your death-bolts yet hot from their path,
And hurls back your lightnings and mocks at the fire
Of your fruitless desire!
Ringed round by her brave, a fierce circlet of flame
Flashes up from the sword-points that cover her breast;
She is guarded by love, and enhaloed by fame,
And never, we swear, shall your footsteps be pressed,
Where her dead heroes rest.
Her voice shook the tyrant, sublime from her tongue
Fell the accents of warning! a prophetess grand--
On her soil the first life notes of liberty rung,
And the first stalwart blow of her gauntleted hand
Broke the sleep of her land.
What more? she hath grasped in her iron-bound will
The fate that would trample her honors to earth;
The light in those deep eyes is luminous still
With the warmth of her valor, the glow of her worth,
Which illumine the earth.
And beside her a knight the great Bayard had loved,
"Without fear or reproach," lifts her banner on high;
He stands in the vanguard majestic, unmoved,
And a thousand firm souls when that chieftain is nigh,
Vow "'tis easy to die!"
Their words have gone forth on the fetterless air,
The world's breath is hushed at the conflict! Before
Gleams the bright form of Freedom, with wreaths in her hair--
And what though the chaplet be crimsoned with gore--
We shall prize her the more!
And while Freedom lures on with her passionate eyes
To the height of her promise, the voices of yore
From the storied profound of past ages arise,
And the pomps of their magical music outpour
O'er the war-beaten shore!
Then gird your brave empress, O heroes! with flame,
Flashed up from the sword-points that cover her breast!
She is guarded by Love and enhaloed by Fame.
And never, stern foe! shall your footsteps be pressed
Where her dead martyrs rest!
