Welcome to the Nation15
(Centennial Hymn sung on Independence Day, 1876.)
BY OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES
Bright on the banners of lily and rose,
Lo, the last sun of our country sets!
Wreathe the bright cannon that scowled on our foes,
All but her friendships the Nation forgets,
All but her friends, and their welcome, forgets.
These are around her: but where are her foes?
Lo, while the sun of her century sets,
Peace, with her garlands of lily and rose!
Welcome! a shout like the war-trumpet’s swell
Wakes the wild echoes that slumber around!
Welcome! it quivers from Liberty’s bell;
Welcome! the walls of her temple resound!
Hark! the gray walls of her temple resound!
Fade the far voices o’er hillside and dell;
Welcome! still whisper the echoes around!
Welcome! still trembles on Liberty’s bell!
Thrones of the continents! isles of the sea!
Yours are the garlands of peace we entwine;
Welcome once more to the land of the free,
Shadowed alike by the palm and the pine;
Softly they murmur, the palm and the pine,
“Hushed is our strife, in the land of the free;”
Over your children their branches entwine,
Thrones of the continents! isles of the sea!