TH

III.-NATIONAL AND PATRIOTIC SONGS.

HIS work will have failed in one essential feature if it do not foster and nur

ture a love of Country, a love of State, and a love of Home. This sentiment, which is confined to no people and to no land, finds its best expression in poetry and song. We cannot do better, therefore, than make a collection of national and patriotic songs for the third and last of our preliminary chapters. The pieces are principally copied from various Centennial collections. We adopt, as part of these introductory remarks, the following, entitled,

OUR NATIVE SONG.

I.

Our native song! our native song!

Oh! where is he who loves it not?
The spell it holds is deep and strong,
Where'er we go, whate'er our lot;
Let other music greet our ear,

With thrilling fire or dulcet tone,
We speak to praise, we pause to hear,
But yet, oh! yet 'tis not our own!
The anthem chant, the ballad wild,
The notes that we remember long,
The theme we sing with lisping tongues,
'Tis this we love, our native song.

II.

The one who bears the felon's brand,
With moody brow and darken'd name,

Thrust meanly from his fatherland,

To languish out a life of shame;
Oh! let him hear some simple strain-

Some lay his mother taught her boy-
He'll feel the charm, and dream again
Of home, of innocence and joy.
The sigh will burst, the tear will start,
And all of virtue buried long,
The best, the purest in his heart,
Is waken'd by his native song.

III.

Self-exiled from his place of birth,

To climes more fragrant, bright and gay,
The mem'ry of our own fair earth

May chance awhile to fade away;
But should some minstrel echo fall,

Of chords that breathe Columbia's fame,
Our souls will burn, our spirits yearn,

True to the land we love and claim.
The high, the low-in weal or woe:

Be sure there's something coldly wrong
About the heart that does not glow

To hear its own, its native song.

In this collection we shall include as well our native songs, as songs of other nations, not only in devotion to a universal sentiment, but because other nations are so largely represented in our own, believing that while our citizens of foreign birth will repeat the songs of their fatherland with a love and fervor that will do honor to the sentiment that breathes through them, they will yet all rise to the refrain

"While 'Yankee oak' bears 'Yankee hearts' courageous to the core,

Columbia free shall rule the sea, Columbia evermore."

In the selections, we would gladly have omitted those pieces having reference to the civil war, as calculated to perpetuate feelings of sectional animosity, but we cannot dispense with "Michigan, my Michigan," and the rhythm of "Tramp, tramp, tramp," as the imprisoned soldier confidently looks forward to the "starry flag" as his deliverer, evokes emotions that will raise the true heart, whether federal or confederate, far above all thought of the strife which called it forth.

AMERICAN NATIONAL SONGS.

MY COUNTRY, 'TIS OF THEE.

I.

My country, 'tis of thee,

Sweet land of liberty,

Of thee I sing;

Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims' pride,
From every mountain side

Let freedom ring.

II.

My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,

Thy name I love;

I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills,

My heart with rapture thrills,

Like that above.

III.

Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet freedom's song;
Let mortal tongues awake,
Let all that breathe partake,
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.

IV.

Our fathers' God, to thee,
Author of liberty,

To thee we sing;

Long may our land be bright
With freedom's holy light;
Protect us with thy might,

Great God, our King!

HAIL COLUMBIA.

This popular national song was written in 1798, by Judge Hopkinson. At that period a war with France was thought inevitable. Party spirit ran high among all classes. A theater was open in Philadelphia, and a young man who had some talent as a singer announced his benefit on its boards. He was acquainted with Judge Hopkinson, and, discouraged at his prospect of success, called on him on Saturday afternoon, and stated that he feared a loss, instead of a benefit; but that if he could get a patriotic song, adapted to the tune of the "President's march," then quite popular, he might depend on a full house. The judge replied that he would try to furnish one. The next afternoon the young man came again, and the song was handed him. It was announced on Monday morning. In the evening the theater was crowded to excess, and continued to be, night after night, through the entire season-the song being loudly encored and repeated many times during each night, the audience joining in the chorus. It was also sung at night in the streets by large assemblies of citizens,

including members of Congress, and found favor with both parties, as neither could disavow its sentiments.

I.

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,
Enjoyed the peace your valor won;
Let independence be your boast,

Ever mindful what it cost,

Ever grateful for the prize,
Let its altar reach the skies.

CHORUS-Firm, united, let us be,

Rallying round our liberty,
As a band of brothers joined,
Peace and safety we shall find.

II.

Immortal patriots! rise once more!
Defend your rights, defend your shore;
Let no rude foe, with impious hand,
Let no rude foe, with impious hand,
Invade the shrine where sacred lies,
Of toil and blood the well-earned prize;
While offering peace, sincere and just,
In heav'n we place a manly trust,
That truth and justice may prevail,
And every scheme of bondage fail!
CHORUS-Firm, united, etc.

III.

Sound, sound the trump of fame!

Let Washington's great name

Ring through the world with loud applause!

Ring through the world with loud applause!

Let every clime to freedom dear

Listen with a joyful ear;

With equal skill, with steady power,

He governs in the fearful hour

Of horrid war, or guides with ease,

The happier time of honest peace.

CHORUS-Firm, united, etc.

IV.

Behold the chief, who now commands,
Once more to serve his country stands,
The rock on which the storm will beat,
The rock on which the storm will beat;
But armed in virtue, firm and true,
His hopes are fixed on heaven and you.
When hope was sinking in dismay,
When gloom obscured Columbia's day,
His steady mind, from changes free,
Resolved on death or liberty.

CHORUS-Firm, united, etc.

1814.

THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER.

This song was written by Francis Scott Key, of Baltimore, September 14, After burning Washington, the British advanced towards Baltimore, and were met by a smaller number of Americans, most of whom were captured and taken to the large fleet, then preparing to attack Fort McHenry. Among the prisoners was a Dr. Beames, an intimate friend of Mr. Key. Hoping to intercede for the doctor's release, Mr. Key, with a flag of truce, started in a sail-boat for the admiral's vessel. Here he was detained in his boat, moored from the stern of the flag-ship, during the terrible bombardment of twenty-five hours, and at last, seeing the "Star-spangled Banner" still waving, he seized an old letter from his pocket, and on a barrel-head, wrote the following stanzas :*

I.

Oh! say, can you see by the dawn's early light,

What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming;
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave,

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

II.

On the shore dimly seen thro' the mist of the deep,

Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner, Oh! long may it wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

* Anderson's History; Nason's Monogram, et al.