All hail to thee, noble and generous Land!With thy prairies boundless and wide,Thy mountains that tower like sentinels grand,Thy lakes and thy rivers of pride! Thy forests that hide in their dim haunted shadesNew flowers of loveliness rare–Thy fairy like dells and thy bright golden glades,Thy warm skies as Italy’s fair. Here Plenty has lovingly […]

Written during the Civil War in the United States. O when will it end, this appalling strife,With its reckless waste of human life,Its riving of highest, holiest ties,Its tears of anguish and harrowing sighs,Its ruined homes from which hope has fled,Its broken hearts and its countless dead? In fair Virginia the new-made gravesLie crowded thick […]

I. Come tell me some olden storyOf Knight or Paladin,Whose sword on the field of gloryBright laurel wreaths did win:Tell me of the heart of fireHis courage rare did prove;Speak on–oh! I will not tire–But never talk of love. II. Or, if thou wilt, I shall hearkenSome magic legend rare–How the Wizard’s power did darkenThe […]

Virgin of Bethlehem! spouse of the Holy One! Star of the pilgrim on life’s stormy sea! Humbler thy lot was than this world’s most lowly one, List to the prayers that we offer to thee! Not for the joys that this false earth bestoweth, Empty and fleeting as April sunshine, But for the grace that […]