Which, Brenan, Lacey, Sevier, taught to burn,
And from King's-mountain* back on Britain turn;
'Till, rous'd by Cleveland's, Shelby's fanning breath,
It ran, like lightning, o'er the pitch-pine heath.
To turn its havoc headlong on his foes,
A whirlwind from the north, then Greene arose;
His brandish'd steel a burning meteor glar'd,
'Mid blackness bickering fire his way prepar'd;
While Marion, Pickens, Sumpter, thund'ring loud,
Roll'd down their dark'ning cliffs a living cloud;
Like spirits of the storm, beside great Greene,
Young rivals, Lee and Washington, were seen,
Wheeling their squadron'd horse. There Howard came,
And shot through Tarleton's ranks pernicious flame.
Two Pinckneys came, in war, in peace both great,
And both conspicuous for a wreath of State:
Two Williams, diff'rent though their place of birth,
Alike their prowess, and alike their worth.
Howe from the south, to eastern climates hied,
And hail'd at Hudson's forts our rising pride!
There what brave youths for arms relinquish'd books,
Cobb, Varnum, Ogdens, Huntingtons, and Brooks.
There Swift, Hull, Sherburn, Olney, Smiths were found, I And Hamilton, "by both Minervas crown'd."
Nor shall my numbers pass unheeded by
The Wyllys brothers-one beneath the sky
Sleeps in the western wild-his bosom gor'd
With barb'rous wounds-in many song deplor'd.
Nor shall the Trumbulls not my lay inspire,
Distinguish'd offspring of a glorious sire!
Nor shall my lay withhold the just applause
From foreign chiefs who came to aid our cause:
Their various garbs and arms, and language strange,
To lend more service, straight the warriors change.
Steuben, mature in years, from Prussia's plains,
The peerless Frederick's art of war explains.
Fayette's light corps its well-earn'd fame supports,
And Armand's legion rash adventures courts.
With Poland's suff'rings rankling in his mind,
Our levied forces Kosciusko join'd, wat
*This alludes to the signal defeat of Colonel Ferguson, at King's-mountain, by a gallant body of mountaineers, under the command of the officers here mentioned.
Expert to change the front, retreat, advance,
And judge of ground with military glance:
While strong Pulaske's troops for battle rave,
Intrepid swordsmen! bravest of the brave!
These chiefs illustrious led, in part, the host;
But who can name Columbia's countless boast?
Who count the sands by eddying whirlblasts driv❜n,
Or number all the stars that rise in heav'n?
Yet stir one sleeping image, straight the brain
Leads kindred myriads with a magic chain;
While all the shapes to mem'ry that belong,
In shadowy cohorts swell the subject throng.
When night and solitude o'er earth and skies
Extend their gloom, what forms of heroes rise
Full on my view! what feats, that grac'd each band,
Till peace, with independence bless'd our land!
And oft in recollections sad, but dear,
I soothe long absence with a secret tear-
Where'er I wander, or where'er I rest,
The love of country warms my lab'ring breast;
And as the flame within my bosom burns,
Each trembling feeling tow'rds Columbia turns.
'Tis like the steel whose magnet-instinct guides
O'er unknown oceans and bewild'ring tides,
And though the lone bark, wrapp'd in darkness, roll,
Still points its path and vibrates to the pole.
Speak, ye who youthful felt the big tear start,
As first your home ye left with heavy heart,
The bliss (long years elaps'd) to see that spot!
*Alike the marble dome and mud-wall'd cot
Restore to mind the sports and joys of youth,
Each heartfelt proof of innocence and truth!
How each remember'd toy the scene endears,
And home the loveliest place on earth appears!
Thou humble spot beneath Columbia's skies,
Where dawn'd the day-star on my opening eyes,
Can I forget thee in this distant scene,
Though ocean rolls a world of waves between?
* Slain with many of his legion at the attack on Savannah.
How oft some spirit deign'd, from blissful bow'rs,.
With dreams of thee to charm my sleeping hours!
Thoughts not my own, still whisper'd soft and clear,
As songs of seraphs to th' unsensual ear,
With kind delusion cur'd my waking pains,
Whether 'mid deaths I slept on tented plains;
Or tir'd with travel on some desert steep,
Or rock'd in cradles of the roaring deep;
Or when my sails at crafty courts were furl'd,
In many a region of this restless world.
While yet detain'd beneath Iberian skies,
Still for my native land new longings rise:
Me keen remembrance goads, by seas confin'd,
While all my country rushes on my mind.
Fir'd at the name, I feel the patriot heat
Throb in my bosom, in my pulses beat,
And on my visage glow. Though what I feel
No words can tell-unutterable zeal!-
Yet thou, Omniscient! whose all-searching eyes
Behold the hidden thoughts that in us rise,
Accept the silent pray'r—“ increase, secure,
My country's bliss, while nature's self endure;
"Till pass'd the race of man, like fleeting wind,
Whose viewless current leaves no trace behind,
Th' irrevocable voice from Heav'n absorb
In smould'ring flames, the annihilated orb!”
At the House of the American Legation, in Madrid, on the 4th Day of July, 1800;
TWENTY-FOURTH ANNIVERSARY
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