To arm for our country is never too late,
No fetters are yet on our feet;
Our hands are more free, and our hearts are as great
As the best in the enemy's fleet:
And look at the list of their navy, and think,
How many are left, to burn, capture, and sink!
Let the nations of Europe surrender the sea,
Or crouch at the foot of a throne;
In liberty's soil we have planted her tree,
And her rights will relinquish to none:
Then stand to your arms,
Then stand to your arms,
Then stand to your arms—half the battle is done!
And bravely accomplish what valor begun.
The day is approaching, a day not remote,
A day with impatience we hail,
When Decatur and Hull shall again be afloat,
And Bainbridge commission'd to sail;
To raise his blockades, will advance on the foe,
And bulwark with Bull to the bottom shall go.
On the waves of Lake Erie we show'd the old brag
We, too, could advance in a line,
And batter their frigates and humble their flag;
"I have met them," said Perry, "they're mine!"
And so, my dear boys, we can meet them again
On the waves of the sea, or the waves of Champlain.
To the new Independence then, pour out a glass,
And drink, with the sense of a man:
She soon will be ready, this pride of her class,
Sir Thomas[A] to meet on his plan:
He hates our torpedoes—then teaze him no more,
Let him venture his luck with our Seventy-four.
Then stand to your arms, you shall ne'er be enslav'd,
Let the battle go on till the nation is saved!
[A] Sir Thomas Hardy, of the Ramillies 74.—Freneau's note.
[211] The Independence was one of the four 74-gun frigates authorized by Congress at the opening of the war. It was launched late in 1814, too late to play any part in the war.