Other sons will ’bout thee rise,
Love thy blue and starlit eyes,
Love the white thy life flow dyes:
May their hearts’ love never leave thee,
May they dream no thoughts to grieve thee,
Never of a star bereave thee;
May the olive in thy hand
Spread until its branches grand
Shelter safely all thy land;
And as days and years are told,
May thy brilliant flag enfold
Strength which never groweth old.
May the world beneath the sun,
In the freedom thou hast won,
See a boon denied to none.
For a gift from God thou art,
Missioned bravely to impart
Sunshine to the sunless heart.
This poem was telegraphed, word for word as spoken, to the “New York Herald,” appearing in that sheet next morning. From its columns it was copied, the week after, into the Philadelphia journals.
After the poem, Messrs. Arbuckle and Levy, the cornetists, played “Old Hundred.” It proved a great success, as it had never before been attempted—in a horn.
The Massachusetts gentleman selected for the honor, then read an essay by Thomas Jefferson, entitled
The Declaration of Independence.