The Martyr of Alexandria
Revealed, as in a lightning flash,
A hero stood!
The invading foe, the trumpet’s crash,
Set up his blood.
High o’er the sacred pile that bends
Those forms above,
Thy star, O Freedom! brightly blends
Its rays with love.
The banner of a mighty race,
Serenely there,
Unfurls the genius of the place,
In haunted air.
A vow is registered in Heaven!
Patriot! ’tis thine!
To guard those matchless colors, given
By hands divine.
Jackson! thy spirit may not hear
Our wail ascend;
A nation gathers round thy bier,
And mourns its friend.
The example is thy monument,
And organ tones
Thy name resound, with glory blent,
Prouder than thrones!
And they whose loss hath been our gain,
A people’s cares
Shall win their wounded hearts from pain,
And wipe their tears.
When time shall set the captives free,
Now scathed by wrath,
Heirs of his immortality,
Bright be their path.