PRIZE CENTENNIAL ODE
She is touching the cycle — her tender tread
Is soft on the hearts of her hallowed dead,
And she proudly stands where her sons have bled
For God and Tennessee;
Where the love of her women set the seal
Of the warrior's faith, for the country's weal,
With hand on the rifle, and hand on the wheel,
By the altars of Tennessee.
They have builded well for the niche of fame,
Through the sleet of want and the heat of blame,
For the courage of heroes tried the flame,
As they builded Tennessee.
'T was up to the port-holes and down in the dust,
Not the weight of might, but the force of must,
With faith and rifle-bore free from rust,
They were building Tennessee.
'Twas up in the saddle and off to the fight,
Where arrow and tomahawk shrieked in the light;
But the sinews of pioneers won for the right
The bulwarks of Tennessee.
Then woke the alarm where the British assailed,
Watauga! Backwater! They never had quailed!
Had " the sword of the Lord and of Gideon " failed,
As they battled for Tennessee?
King's Mountain and victory followed fast,
For the men were steel in the leaden blast,
And daring was born in each bullet they cast
For the honor of Tennessee.
They were building well for a race unborn,
As the British plowed through the waving corn,
For the birth-pang of Freedom rang that morn
In the yell of Tennessee!
Ay, parson and warrior fought the same;
They were one in heart and were one in name;
They sowed in flint, but the lilies came
To blossom for Tennessee.
And the bones of her sons lie bleaching far,
From the Mexic Gulf to the northern star;
In the beauty of peace and the valor of war
The first is Tennessee!
Oh! rugged the past that our hearts invoke!
There the sturdy life of a Crockett woke,
And the clarion tones of a Parson Doak
Went ringing for Tennessee!
Oh! " heart of Old Hickory, " sleeping near!
Oh! chivalrous soul of her John Sevier!
Oh! shades of her unnamed heroes, hear
The record of Tennessee.
There, the name of her Polk starred his country's shield;
Here, bench and bar with her signet have sealed;
There, a Cheatham and Jackson on the field
Stood proudly for Tennessee.
She was true when they pressed like a shadowy fate —
Her royal foes at her unbarred gate —
And as true when were menaced her Rights of State,
The mother, Tennessee.
And she gave of her life for the stars and bars,
As she gave of her sons for the earlier wars,
And the breast of her motherhood wears the scars
For the manhood of Tennessee.
But she wrought again, in the strength of might,
In the face of defeat and a yielded right,
The Cloth of Gold from the loom of night,
The mantle of Tennessee.
She has given of all that she held most dear,
With a Spartan hope and a Spartan fear,
Crowned in her statehood " Volunteer, "
Glorious Tennessee!
She has rounded the cycle; the tale is told;
The circlet is iron, the clasp is gold;
And the leaves of a wonderful past unfold,
The garland of Tennessee.
And her garments gleam in the sunlit years,
And the songs of her children fill her ears,
And the listening heart of the great world hears
The paeans of Tennessee!
She is touching the cycle — her tender tread
Is soft on the hearts of her hallowed dead,
And she proudly stands where her sons have bled
For God and Tennessee;
Where the love of her women set the seal
Of the warrior's faith, for the country's weal,
With hand on the rifle, and hand on the wheel,
By the altars of Tennessee.
They have builded well for the niche of fame,
Through the sleet of want and the heat of blame,
For the courage of heroes tried the flame,
As they builded Tennessee.
'T was up to the port-holes and down in the dust,
Not the weight of might, but the force of must,
With faith and rifle-bore free from rust,
They were building Tennessee.
'Twas up in the saddle and off to the fight,
Where arrow and tomahawk shrieked in the light;
But the sinews of pioneers won for the right
The bulwarks of Tennessee.
Then woke the alarm where the British assailed,
Watauga! Backwater! They never had quailed!
Had " the sword of the Lord and of Gideon " failed,
As they battled for Tennessee?
King's Mountain and victory followed fast,
For the men were steel in the leaden blast,
And daring was born in each bullet they cast
For the honor of Tennessee.
They were building well for a race unborn,
As the British plowed through the waving corn,
For the birth-pang of Freedom rang that morn
In the yell of Tennessee!
Ay, parson and warrior fought the same;
They were one in heart and were one in name;
They sowed in flint, but the lilies came
To blossom for Tennessee.
And the bones of her sons lie bleaching far,
From the Mexic Gulf to the northern star;
In the beauty of peace and the valor of war
The first is Tennessee!
Oh! rugged the past that our hearts invoke!
There the sturdy life of a Crockett woke,
And the clarion tones of a Parson Doak
Went ringing for Tennessee!
Oh! " heart of Old Hickory, " sleeping near!
Oh! chivalrous soul of her John Sevier!
Oh! shades of her unnamed heroes, hear
The record of Tennessee.
There, the name of her Polk starred his country's shield;
Here, bench and bar with her signet have sealed;
There, a Cheatham and Jackson on the field
Stood proudly for Tennessee.
She was true when they pressed like a shadowy fate —
Her royal foes at her unbarred gate —
And as true when were menaced her Rights of State,
The mother, Tennessee.
And she gave of her life for the stars and bars,
As she gave of her sons for the earlier wars,
And the breast of her motherhood wears the scars
For the manhood of Tennessee.
But she wrought again, in the strength of might,
In the face of defeat and a yielded right,
The Cloth of Gold from the loom of night,
The mantle of Tennessee.
She has given of all that she held most dear,
With a Spartan hope and a Spartan fear,
Crowned in her statehood " Volunteer, "
Glorious Tennessee!
She has rounded the cycle; the tale is told;
The circlet is iron, the clasp is gold;
And the leaves of a wonderful past unfold,
The garland of Tennessee.
And her garments gleam in the sunlit years,
And the songs of her children fill her ears,
And the listening heart of the great world hears
The paeans of Tennessee!