OUR VOLUNTEER'S BIRTHDAY.
173
When our land shall be purged, when banners of light
Shall float unobscured by clouds of the past,
When freedom no more is cursed with a blight,
May I be allowed to enfold thee at last:
A harbinger thus—clouds, sorrow, and joy,
The sun's bursting forth on the landscape to-day
To lighten the gloom,—I these omens employ,
And trust in the songs the psalmists convey.
Shall float unobscured by clouds of the past,
When freedom no more is cursed with a blight,
May I be allowed to enfold thee at last:
A harbinger thus—clouds, sorrow, and joy,
The sun's bursting forth on the landscape to-day
To lighten the gloom,—I these omens employ,
And trust in the songs the psalmists convey.
