And triumph bred dangerous ease,--
Our victories all unnumbered,
Our feet on the down-bowed seas.

Come, then, simple and stalwart
Life of the earlier days!
Come! Far better than all were it--
Our precepts, our prayers, and our lays--

That the heart of the people should tremble
Accord to some mighty one's voice,
The helpless atoms assemble
In music, their valor to poise.

Come to us, mountain-dweller,
Leader, wherever thou art,
Skilled from thy cradle, a queller
Of serpents, and sound to the heart!

Modest, and mighty, and tender,
Man of an iron mold,
Learned or unlearned, our defender,
American-souled!



THE SILENT TIDE

A tangled orchard round the farm-house spreads,
Wherein it stands home-like, but desolate,