I WAS sitting with my microscope, upon my parlor rug, With a very heavy quarto and a very lively bug; The true bug had been organized with only two antennae, But the humbug in the copperplate would have them twice as many. And I thought, like Dr. Faustus, of the emptiness of art, How we […]

Recited At The Berkshire Jubilee, PITTSFIELD, MASS., AUGUST 23, 1844 COME back to your mother, ye children, for shame, Who have wandered like truants for riches or fame! With a smile on her face, and a sprig in her cap, She calls you to feast from her bountiful lap. Come out from your alleys, your […]

COMPLIED WITH AFTER THE DINNER AT PRESIDENT EVERETT’S INAUGURATION SCENE,–a back parlor in a certain square, Or court, or lane,–in short, no matter where; Time,–early morning, dear to simple souls Who love its sunshine and its fresh-baked rolls; Persons,–take pity on this telltale blush, That, like the AEthiop, whispers, “Hush, oh hush!” Delightful scene! where […]

PHI BETA KAPPA SOCIETY, 1844 I WAS thinking last night, as I sat in the cars, With the charmingest prospect of cinders and stars, Next Thursday is–bless me!–how hard it will be, If that cannibal president calls upon me! There is nothing on earth that he will not devour, From a tutor in seed to […]

As o’er the glacier’s frozen sheet Breathes soft the Alpine rose, So through life’s desert springing sweet The flower of friendship grows; And as where’er the roses grow Some rain or dew descends, ‘T is nature’s law that wine should flow To wet the lips of friends. Then once again, before we part, My empty […]

I MUST leave thee, lady sweet Months shall waste before we meet; Winds are fair and sails are spread, Anchors leave their ocean bed; Ere this shining day grow dark, Skies shall gird my shoreless bark. Through thy tears, O lady mine, Read thy lover’s parting line. When the first sad sun shall set, Thou […]

FOR A TEMPERANCE DINNER TO WHICH LADIES WERE INVITED (NEW YORK MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, NOVEMBER, 1842) A HEALTH to dear woman! She bids us untwine, From the cup it encircles, the fast-clinging vine; But her cheek in its crystal with pleasure will glow, And mirror its bloom in the bright wave below. A health to […]

THE pledge of Friendship! it is still divine, Though watery floods have quenched its burning wine; Whatever vase the sacred drops may hold, The gourd, the shell, the cup of beaten gold, Around its brim the hand of Nature throws A garland sweeter than the banquet’s rose. Bright are the blushes of the vine-wreathed bowl, […]

WHAT flower is this that greets the morn, Its hues from Heaven so freshly born? With burning star and flaming band It kindles all the sunset land Oh tell us what its name may be,– Is this the Flower of Liberty? It is the banner of the free, The starry Flower of Liberty! In savage […]

DEDICATED TO THE STAY-AT-HOME RANGERS Now, while our soldiers are fighting our battles, Each at his post to do all that he can, Down among rebels and contraband chattels, What are you doing, my sweet little man? All the brave boys under canvas are sleeping, All of them pressing to march with the van, Far […]

AMERICA TO RUSSIA AUGUST 5, 1866 Read by Hon. G. V. Fox at a dinner given to the Mission from the United States, St. Petersburg. THOUGH watery deserts hold apart The worlds of East and West, Still beats the selfsame human heart In each proud Nation’s breast. Our floating turret tempts the main And dares […]

FLAG of the heroes who left us their glory, Borne through their battle-fields’ thunder and flame, Blazoned in song and illumined in story, Wave o’er us all who inherit their fame! Up with our banner bright, Sprinkled with starry light, Spread its fair emblems from mountain to shore, While through the sounding sky Loud rings […]

MUSIC HALL, DECEMBER 6, 1871 Sung to the Russian national air by the children of the public schools. SHADOWED so long by the storm-cloud of danger, Thou whom the prayers of an empire defend, Welcome, thrice welcome! but not as a stranger, Come to the nation that calls thee its friend! Bleak are our shores […]

DECEMBER 9, 1871 ONE word to the guest we have gathered to greet! The echoes are longing that word to repeat,– It springs to the lips that are waiting to part, For its syllables spell themselves first in the heart. Its accents may vary, its sound may be strange, But it bears a kind message […]

AUGUST 21, 1868 BROTHERS, whom we may not reach Through the veil of alien speech, Welcome! welcome! eyes can tell What the lips in vain would spell,– Words that hearts can understand, Brothers from the Flowery Land! We, the evening’s latest born, Hail the children of the morn! We, the new creation’s birth, Greet the […]

AUGUST 2, 1872 WE welcome you, Lords of the Land of the Sun! The voice of the many sounds feebly through one; Ah! would ‘t were a voice of more musical tone, But the dog-star is here, and the song-birds have flown. And what shall I sing that can cheat you of smiles, Ye heralds […]

NOVEMBER 3, 1864 O EVEN-HANDED Nature! we confess This life that men so honor, love, and bless Has filled thine olden measure. Not the less. We count the precious seasons that remain; Strike not the level of the golden grain, But heap it high with years, that earth may gain. What heaven can lose,–for heaven […]

How the mountains talked together, Looking down upon the weather, When they heard our friend had planned his Little trip among the Andes! How they’ll bare their snowy scalps To the climber of the Alps When the cry goes through their passes, “Here comes the great Agassiz!” “Yes, I’m tall,” says Chimborazo, “But I wait […]

JULY 31, 1865 WHEN treason first began the strife That crimsoned sea and shore, The Nation poured her hoarded life On Freedom’s threshing-floor; From field and prairie, east and west, From coast and hill and plain, The sheaves of ripening manhood pressed Thick as the bearded grain. Rich was the harvest; souls as true As […]

JULY 6, 1865 Now, smiling friends and shipmates all, Since half our battle ‘s won, A broadside for our Admiral! Load every crystal gun Stand ready till I give the word,– You won’t have time to tire,– And when that glorious name is heard, Then hip! hurrah! and fire! Bow foremost sinks the rebel craft,– […]