Felicia Dorothea Hemans (1793-1835)
The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers in New England
"Look now abroad--another race has fill'd
Those populous borders--wide the wood recedes,
And town shoots up, and fertile realms are till'd;
The land is full of harvests and green meads."--BRYANT
1The breaking waves dash'd high
2 On a stern and rock-bound coast,
3And the woods against a stormy sky
4 Their giant branches toss'd;
5 And the heavy night hung dark,
6 The hills and waters o'er,
7When a band of exiles moor'd their bark
8 On the wild New England shore.
9 Not as the conqueror comes,
10 They, the true-hearted, came;
11Not with the roll of the stirring drums,
12 And the trumpet that sings of fame;
13 Not as the flying come,
14 In silence and in fear;--
15They shook the depths of the desert gloom
16 With their hymns of lofty cheer.
17 Amidst the storm they sang,
18 And the stars heard and the sea:
19And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang
20 To the anthem of the free!
21 The ocean eagle soar'd
22 From his nest by the white wave's foam
23And the rocking pines of the forest roar'd--
24 This was their welcome home!
25 There were men with hoary hair
26 Amidst that pilgrim band:--
27Why had they come to wither there,
28 Away from their childhood's land?
29 There was woman's fearless eye,
30 Lit by her deep love's truth;
31There was manhood's brow serenely high,
32 And the fiery heart of youth.
33 What sought they thus afar?
34 Bright jewels of the mine?
35The wealth of seas, the spoils of war?--
36 They sought a faith's pure shrine!
37 Ay, call it holy ground,
38 The soil where first they trode.
39They have left unstained, what there they found--
40 Freedom to worship God.
Online text copyright © 2009, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.
Original text: Felicia Dorothea Hemans, The League of the Alps, The Siege of Valencia, The Vespers of Palermo, and other Poems (1826).
First publication date:
1826
RPO poem editor: J. D. Robins
RP edition: 2RP.1.280; RPO 1996-2000.
Recent editing: 2:2002/2/7
Rhyme: abab
Other poems by Felicia Dorothea Hemans
