William McCarty, comp. The American National Song Book. 1842.
The Lake SquadronsPhilip Freneau (17521832)
T
Asks every effort of the mind,
And every energy combined,
To crush the foe.
Sail where they will, you must be there:
Lurk where they can, you will not spare
The blast of death—but all things dare
To bring them low.
Macdonough leads his gallant train,
And, his great object to sustain,
Vermont unites.
Her hardy youths and veterans bold,
From shelter’d vale and mountain cold,
Who fought to guard in days of old
Their country’s rights.
And to the world the word is gone—
Her independence must to none
Be sign’d away.
Be to the nation’s standard true,
To Britain, and to Europe, show
That you can fight and conquer too,
And prostrate lay
No more to fight us in disguise,
But count our freedom for their prize,
If valour fails;
Beneath your feet let fear be cast,
Remember deeds of valour past,
And nail your colours to the mast
And spread your sails.
Let thunders from the cannon roar,
And lightnings flash from shore to shore,
To wing the ball.
Let Huron from his slumbers wake,
Bid Erie to his centre shake,
Till, foundering in Ontario’s lake,
You swamp them all!