By angel hands to valor given,
Thy stars have lit the welkin dome,
And all thy hues were born in heaven.
Forever float that standard sheet!
Where breathes the foe but falls before us,
With Freedom’s soil beneath our feet,
And Freedom’s banner streaming o’er us!
—Joseph Rodman Drake.
SPEECH AT THE DEDICATION OF THE NATIONAL CEMETERY AT GETTYSBURG.
November 18, 1863.