Classic Poem

A SONG .

Tune — The Watery God, & c.

Where spirits dwell, and shad'wy forms,
On Andes' cliffs, 'mid black'ning storms,
With livid lightnings curl'd;
The awful genius of our clime,
In thunder rais'd his voice sublime,
And hush'd the list'ning world.

" In lonely waves and wastes of earth,
" A mighty empire claims its birth,
" And heav'n asserts the claim;
" The sails that hang in yon dim sky,
" Proclaim the promis'd aera nigh,
" Which wakes a world to fame.

" Hail ye first bounding barks that roam,
" Blue tumbling billows topp'd with foam,
" Which keel ne'er plough'd before!
" Here suns perform their useless round,
" Here rove the naked tribes embrown'd,
" Who feed on living gore.

" To midnight orgies, off'ring dire,
" The human sacrifice on fire,
" A heav'nly light succeeds —
" But, lo! what horrors intervene,
" The toils severe, the carnag'd scene,
" And more than mortal deeds!

" Ye fathers, spread your fame afar,
" 'Tis yours to still the sounds of war,
" And bid the slaughter cease;
" The peopling hamlets wide extend,
" The harvests spring, the spires ascend,
" 'Mid grateful songs of peace.

" Shall steed to steed, and man to man,
" With discord thund'ring in the van,
" Again destroy the bliss?
" Enough my mystic words reveal,
" The rest the shades of night conceal
" In fate's profound abyss. "