John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892). The Poetical Works in Four Volumes. 1892.
Songs of Labor and ReformOur State
T
The prairied West its heavy grain,
And sunset’s radiant gates unfold
On rising marts and sands of gold!
Is scant of soil, of limits strait;
Her yellow sands are sands alone,
Her only mines are ice and stone!
Too long her winter woods complain;
From budding flower to falling leaf,
Her summer time is all too brief.
And wintry hills, the school-house stands,
And what her rugged soil denies,
The harvest of the mind supplies.
Are free, strong minds, and hearts of health;
And more to her than gold or grain,
The cunning hand and cultured brain.
The stubborn strength of Pilgrim Rock;
And still maintains, with milder laws,
And clearer light, the Good Old Cause!
While near her school the church-spire stands;
Nor fears the blinded bigot’s rule,
While near her church-spire stands the school.