National Anthem.

Freedom spreads her downy wings
Over all created things;
Glory to the King of kings,
        Bend low to Him the knee!
Bring the heart before His throne--
Worship Him and Him alone!--
He's the only King we own--
        And He has made us free!

The holiest spot a smiling sun
E'er shed his genial rays upon,
Is that which gave a Washington
        The drooping world to cheer!
Sound the clarion-peals of fame!
Ye who bear Columbia's name!--
With existence freedom came--
        It is man's birthright here!

Heirs of an immortal sire,
Let his deeds your hearts inspire;
Weave the strain and wake the lyre
        Where your proud altars stand!
Hail with pride and loud harrahs,
Streaming from a thousand spars,
Freedom's rainbow-flag of stars--
        The symbol of our land!

George Pope Morris

George Pope Morris was an American editor, poet, and songwriter. Born on October 10, 1802, he made significant contributions to American literature and music. Morris co-founded and edited the New York Evening Mirror, where he published works by Edgar Allan Poe and others. He is perhaps best known for his song "Woodman, Spare That Tree!" and his role in the early 19th-century literary scene. Morris died on July 6, 1864, leaving behind a legacy of editorial and creative work that influenced many American writers and musicians.

George Pope Morris

King Cotton.

George Pope Morris, Simple Poetry

Boat-Song.

George Pope Morris, Simple Poetry

The May-Queen.

George Pope Morris, Simple Poetry

The Land of Washington.

George Pope Morris, Simple Poetry

English

Suggested Poems

Explore a curated selection of verses that share themes, styles, and emotional resonance with the poem you've just read.

July Fourth.

    Hail, glorious morning of Columbia's birth,
        Celestial dawn of freedom! There shall be
    In recognition of thy wondrous worth
        By mighty millions this side of the sea,
        Triumphant crowns of laurel wreathed for thee!
    Welcome thy mammoth pageants, welcome all
        The choral songs and melodies of glee,
    The swelling shouts of praise that gladly fall
    From mighty multitudes in anthems national!

    High hangs the sacred banner, and the stars
        Dance in the sunshine, while the breezes play
    Around the glory of the hallowed bars
        Gleaming in white and crimson; music gay
        Floats from the patriot host and cheers array
    Great shouts around its foldings. Long in state,
        Flag of the brave and free...

Freeman Edwin Miller

Hail, Columbia!

1798

The First Verse Of The Song By Joseph Hopkinson

"Hail, Columbia! Happy land!
Hail, ye heroes, heaven-born band,
Who fought and bled in Freedom's cause,
Who fought and bled in Freedom's cause,
And when the storm of war was gone
Enjoy'd the peace your valor won.
Let independence be our boast,
Ever mindful what it cost;
Ever grateful for the prize,
Let its altar reach the skies.

"Firm - united - let us be,
Rallying round our Liberty;
As a band of brothers join'd,
Peace and safety we shall find."


Additional Verses

Written At The Request Of The Committee For The Constitutional Centennial Celebration At Philadelphia,

1887

Look our ransomed shores around,
Peace and safety we have found!
Wel...

Oliver Wendell Holmes

The Flag of our Union.

"A song for our banner?"--The watchword recall
Which gave the Republic her station:
"United we stand--divided we fall!"--
It made and preserves us a nation!
The union of lakes--the union of lands--
The union of States none can sever--
The union of hearts--the union of hands--
And the Flag of the Union for ever
            And ever!
The Flag of our Union for ever!

What God in his mercy and wisdom designed,
And armed with his weapons of thunder,
Not all the earth's despots and factions combined
Have the power to conquer or sunder!
The union of lakes--the union of lands--
The union of states none can sever--
The union of hearts--the union of hands--
And the Flag of the Union for ever
            And ever!
The Flag of our Union for ever!
...

George Pope Morris

Seventy-Six.

Before the Battle.


The clarion call of liberty
    Rings on the startled gales!
The rising hills reverberate
    The rising of the vales!
Through all the land the thrilling shout
    Swift as an arrow goes!
Columbia's champions arm and out
    To battle with her foes!


After the Battle


The bugle-song of victory
    Is vocal in the air!
The strains, by warrior-voices breathed,
    Are echoed by the fair!
The eagle, with the wreath, blood-bought,
    Soars proudly to the sun,
Proclaiming the "good fight is fought,
    And the great victory won!"

George Pope Morris

Address To The Flag

Float in the winds of heaven, O tattered Flag!
Emblem of hope to all the misruled world:
Thy field of golden stars is rent and red
Dyed in the blood of brothers madly spilled
By brother-hands upon the mother-soil.
O fatal Upas of the savage Nile,^[CT]
Transplanted hither rooted multiplied
Watered with bitter tears and sending forth
Thy venom-vapors till the land is mad,
Thy day is done. A million blades are swung
To lay thy jungles open to the sun;
A million torches fire thy blasted boles;
A million hands shall drag thy fibers out
And feed the fires till every root and branch
Lie in dead ashes. From the blackened soil,
Enriched and moistened with fraternal blood,
Beside the palm shall spring the olive-tree,
And every breeze shall waft the happy ...

Hanford Lennox Gordon

Freedom, Our Queen

Land where the banners wave last in the sun,
Blazoned with star-clusters, many in one,
Floating o'er prairie and mountain and sea;
Hark! 't is the voice of thy children to thee!

Here at thine altar our vows we renew
Still in thy cause to be loyal and true, -
True to thy flag on the field and the wave,
Living to honor it, dying to save!

Mother of heroes! if perfidy's blight
Fall on a star in thy garland of light,
Sound but one bugle-blast! Lo! at the sign
Armies all panoplied wheel into line!

Hope of the world! thou'hast broken its chains, -
Wear thy bright arms while a tyrant remains,
Stand for the right till the nations shall own
Freedom their sovereign, with Law for her throne!

Freedom! sweet Freedom! our voices resound,
Queen by...

Oliver Wendell Holmes