The lAnDIng oF The pIlgrIM FAThers

BY FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS

Felicia Dorothea Hemans (1793-1835): An English poet. She began to write when a small child, and published many volumes of verse. Among her best-known poems are,—“

The Voice of Spring,” “The Better Land,” “The Graves of a Household,” “The Treasures

of the Deep,” and the following poem.

1. The breaking waves dashed high

On a stern and rock-bound coast;And the woods, against a stormy sky,Their giant branches tossed;

2. And the heavy night hung dark,

The hills and waters o’er,When a band ofmoored their bark On the wild New England shore.

3. Not as the conqueror comes,

They, the true-hearted, came,Not with the roll of the stirring drums,And the trumpet that sings of fame;

4. Not as the flying come

In silence and in fear;—They shook the depths of the desert gloomWith their hymns of lofty cheer.

5. Amidst the storm they sang;

And the stars heard, and the sea;And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang To theanthem of the free.

6. The ocean eagle soared

From his nest by the white wave’s foam;And the rocking pines of the forest roared,This was their welcome home!

7. There were men with hoary hair,

Amidst that pilgrim band;—

Why had they come to wither there,Away from their childhood’s land?

8. There was woman’s fearless eye,

Lit by her deep love’s truth;There was manhood’s browserenely high,And the fiery heart of youth

9. What sought they thus afar?

Bright jewels of the mine?The wealth of seas, the spoils of war?They sought a faith’s pure shrine.

10. Ay, call it holy ground,

The soil where first they trod

They have left unstained what there they found,Freedom to worship God. 9reHxI7eKDBpcRk5FE69nhprl/yS1GUGU0n6j5Co3CljcmXQKPdBNHEryL9zzDqH