William McCarty, comp. The American National Song Book. 1842.
The Nations GuestCharles L. S. Jones
H
To view the land his valour bless’d;
And crowding millions round him throng
With joyous shout and sounding song!
Where Freedom’s countless bands arise,
And with spontaneous offerings greet,
And cast their homage at his feet.
Whose sons to man ne’er bent the knee,
With one united voice proclaim
A welcome dearer far than fame.
Her fattening herds, her flowery plains,
Her cities fair, her land that teems
With ripening crops and freighted streams.
The blissful yeoman’s jocund note;
Whilst every thing bespeaks a land
Great, happy, fertile, rich, and grand.
To scenes that memory’s grief inurns,
Where oft his sword had flamed afar,
Wide gleaming o’er the hosts of war.
He hears the war-cry’s threatening scream,
And shouts of victory, that enshrine
In fame’s bright scroll the Brandywine.
With rage, and death, and havoc rife,
When Britain sought the free to bind,
Came thronging on his labouring mind.
To present joys of love and peace,
And views once more the happy throng
That round him raise the festive song.
Of beauteous France, whose valour won
These blessings we with joy prepare,
Far happier that thou deign’st to share!
To greet the nation’s guest and friend
With honours for which conquerors pine!
Thine, hero of the Brandywine!