Hail! happy England! land of freemen, hail!
My heart beats high to see thy shores again!
Thy hearts of oak are cased in virtue’s mail,
Great Legislatrix of the boundless main!
The fettered Greek may tell the captive’s tale,
And the proud Bourbon lord it over Spain;
Slaves may submit, and despots may command;
But thou art England still! Freedom’s blest land!
Long may the Rose bloom on thy shelving shore,
And the green Shamrock deck thy sister isle,
And Caledonia’s Thistle, as of yore,
Wave its head proudly in the breeze the while!
O may your sons ne’er be divided more,
Ye much loved isles! Still be their common toil
To guard their birthright. Then even wild war’s thunder
Shall never rend your triple cord asunder.
Hail! happy England! land of freemen, hail!
Hail! though I shall not name thee, thou art mine
My wanderings ne’er again shall make thee wail,
Nor my tears mingle with the ocean brine.
Reader, a long adieu! Here ends my tale!
Mine was the pleasure, but the labour thine.
Adieu, my old grey goose-quill! Hark! the bell
Tolls the dark midnight hour! Farewell! farewell!
(John Dunmore Lang)
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Based on Topics: Happiness Poems, Pleasure Poems, Liberty & Freedom Poems, Vice & Virtue Poems, Labor Poems, England PoemsBased on Keywords: shamrock, caledonia, cased, goose-quill