America: or, A poem on the settlement of the British colonies; addressed to the friends of freedom, and their country. / By a gentleman educated at Yale-College.

America: or, A poem on the settlement of the British colonies; addressed to the friends of freedom, and their country. / By a gentleman educated at Yale-College.

Table of contents

Title page

A POEM.

[Page]

A POEM.

FROM sylvan shades, [...]ool bowers and fragrant gales,

Green hills and murm'ring Streams and flowery vales,

My soul ascends of nobler themes to sing;

AMERICA shall wake the sounding string.

Accept, my native Land, these humble lays,

This graceful song, a tribute to thy praise.

When first mankind o'er-spread great ASIA's lands,

And nations rose unnumber'd as the sands,

From eastern shores, where AMOUR rolls his streams,

And morning suns display their earliest beams,

TARTARS i [...] millions, swarming on the day,

Thro' the vast western ocean steer'd their way;

From east to west, from north to south they roll,

And wh [...] the fields from DARIE [...] to the pole.

Sunk in barbarity, these realms were found,

And Superstition hung her clouds around;

O'er all, impenetrable Darkness spread

Her dusky wings, and cast a dreadful shade;

No glimpse of science through the gloom appear'd;

No trace of civil life the desart chear'd;

No lost endearments, no fond social ties,

Nor filth, nor ju [...]tice calm'd their horrid joys:

But furious Vengeance swell'd the [...] mind,

And dark-ey'd Malice all her in [...] join'd.

Here spread broad plain [...], in blood [...] drown'd;

There boundless f [...]rests nodded o'e [...] [...] ground;

Here ceaseless riot and confusion [...];

There savage r [...]ings shake the [...]ing grove.

Age after age rolls on in deepening gloom,

Dark as the [...] of the silent tomb.

[Page]Thus wasting Discord, like an angry sea,

Swept mighty kings and warring worlds away,

And (ages past) succeeding times beheld

The same dire ruin clothe the dreary field.

At length (COLUMBUS taught by heaven to trace

Far-distant lands, through unknown pathless seas)

AMERICA'S bright realms arose to view,

And the old world rejoic'd to [...] the new.

When blest ELIZA rul'd th' ATLANTIC main,

And her bold navies humbled ha [...]h [...]y SPAIN;

Heaven sent undaunted RALEIGH▪ ENGLAND'S pride▪

To waft her children o'er the bri [...] [...]ide,

In fair VIRGINIA'S fields to fix her throne,

And stretch her sway beneath the falling sun.

Then CHARLES and LAUD usurp'd despotic powers,

And Persecution sadden'd ALBION's shores;

With racks and flames, Religion spread her sway,

BRITONS were learn'd to torture, laws t'obey.

Forc'd from the pleasures of their native soil,

Where Liberty had lighten'd [...]ery toil;

Forc'd from the arms of friends and kindred dear,

With scarce the comfort of one parting tear,

Whilst wives clung round and took a final gaze,

And reverend fires prolong'd the last embrace;

To these far-distant climes our fathers c [...]me,

Where blest NEW-ENGLAND boasts a parent's name.

With Freedom's fire their gen'rous bosoms glow'd,

Warm for the truth, and zealous for their GOD;

With these, the horrors of the desart ceas'd;

Without them, ALBION less than [...] pleas'd;

By these inspir'd, their zeal [...].

And bravely dar'd each danger—to be good;

Th' unfathom'd ocean, roll'd in mighty storms,

Want and Disease in all their dreadfu [...] forms▪

The freezing blast that roar'd through boundless s [...]s,

And War fierce-threat'ning from surrounding foes.

[Page]Yet here Contentment dwelt, and Pleasure smil'd.

And rough-brow'd Labour every care beguil'd,

Made fruitful garden [...] round the forests rise,

And calm'd the horrors of the dreary skies.

PENN led a peaceful train to that kind clime▪

Where Nature wantons in her liveliest prime,

Where mighty Da [...]ware rolls his silver tide,

And fertile fields adorn the river's side.

Peace rul'd his life; to peace his laws inspir'd;

In peace the willing savages retir'd.

The dreary Wilderness, with glad surprise,

Saw spacious towns and golden harvests rise.

Brave OGLITHROPE in GEORGIA fix'd his seat,

And deep distress there found a calm retreat;

Learning and life to orphans there were given,

And drew down blessings from approving heaven.

Happy they liv'd, while Peace maintain'd her sway,

And taught the furious savage to obey,

Whilst Labour fearless rear'd the nodding grain,

And Innocence securely trod the plain:

But soon, too soon, were spread the dire alarms,

And thousand painted nations rush'd to ar [...]s,

War's kindled flames blaz'd dreadful round the shore,

And hills and plains with blo [...]d were crimson'd o'er.

Where late the flocks rov'd harmless on the green,

Where rising towns and cultur'd fields were seen,

Illimitable desarts met the eye,

And smoking ruins mounted to the sky.

Oft when deep silent Night her wings had spread,

And the vast world lay hid in peaceful shade,

In some lone village mirth led on the hours,

And swains secure to sleep resign'd their powers;

Sudden the fields resound with war's alarms▪

And earth re- [...]choes [...] arms, to arms, to arms;

Faint through the gloom the murd'ring bands are seen;

Disploded th [...]nder shakes the darksome green;

[Page]Broad streams of fire from falling structures rise,

And shrieks and groans and shouts in [...]ade the skies:

Here weeping mothers piercing anguish feel;

There smiles the babe beneath the lifted steel;

Here vig'rous youth from bloody vengeance flies;

There white-hair'd age just looks to heaven, and dies.

The sons of GAUL in yonder northern lands

Urg'd the keen sword and fir'd the painted bands;

Priests, cloath'd in Virtue's garb, destruction spread,

And pious fury heap'd the fields with dead.

Rous'd by increasing woes, our sires bade sound

The trump of war, and squadrons gather'd round,

Where LOUISBOURG, adorn'd with towering spires,

Defy'd the terror of the BRITISH fires;

Bands, who ne'er heard the thundring cannon's roar,

Nor met a foe, nor view'd a wall before,

By Freedom warm'd, with native brav'ry crown'd,

Bade her proud towers be humbled to the ground.

E'en Heaven itself approv'd a war so i [...] ▪

In Heaven let injur'd nations put their trust.

Yet still destruction spread around the shore,

And the dire savage bath'd in BRITISH gore,

'Till WOLFE appear'd and led his freeborn bands,

Like a dark tempest to yon GALLIC lands:

Then shook Quebec at his exalted name,

And her high walls already seem'd to flame.

Lo! where deep forests roar with loud alarms,

Th' exalted hero shines in blazing arms;

His squadrons, rolling like the billow'd main,

Dart a bright horror o'er th' embattl'd plain;

Whilst from ascending domes and loft [...] towers

Pale quivering thousands view the ho [...]ile powers.

The BRITISH host, stretch'd out in dark array,

Rush fearless on and sweep their foes away;

From smoky volumes rapid flames aspire,

And bursting cannon set the fields on fire;

[Page]Fate swells the sound; whole trod [...] o [...] [...]oes fall;

And one unbounded ruin buries all.

As o'er the wester [...] dark clouds [...]rise▪

Involve the sun and black [...]n all the skies;

The whirlwinds roar; heaven's awful thunders roll,

And streamy lightnings [...]la [...] [...]rou [...] the pole▪

Descending floods along the [...]dows [...]ow,

And bursting torrents whelm the world below.

Then glorious AMH [...]ST [...]oi [...]s his utmost force,

And tow'rd CANADIA'S realms inclines his course;

Immense destruction marks his dreadful way,

And smoking towns spread terror on the day;

O'er all the land one boundless waste is seen,

And blazing hills and gloomy streams between.

The voice of Desolation fill [...] the gales,

And boding Horror sighs along the vales;

Deep in the woods the savage world retires,

Far from the thunder and the wasting fi [...]

At length these realms the BRITISH scepter own,

And bow submissive at great GEORGE'S throne.

Almighty GOD of heaven! thy wondrous ways

Demand loud anthems [...] eternal praise.

Through earth, through [...]aven's immeasurable rounds,

Thy Greatness beams▪ thy being knows no bounds.

E'er Time began, unbounded and alone,

Beyond the vast o [...] space thy Glory sho [...]e;

'Till that great moment when th' almighty call

From endless darkness wak'd this earthly [...]all:

Then Being heard his voice, and round the sky

Glow'd the bright worlds, which gild the realms on high;

Time then appear'd; the Seasons d [...]ck'd his train,

And Hours and Years da [...]'d joyous o'er the plain;

Millions of morning stars [...]EHOVAH sung,

And the whole universe with praises rung.

Yo [...] world of fire, that gives a [...] day,

From thy effulgence d [...]ts the burning ray.

[Page]Thou bid'st yo [...] [...]a [...]ry flames adorn the pole;

Thy word ordains, and circling seasons roll:

At thy co [...]and awakes the lovely Spring;

Beauty breaks forth; the hills with musick ring:

In Summer's [...]erter blaze thy thunders roar;

Nature attends, and tremb [...]g realms adore:

When Autumn shines, [...] fruits bedeck the plain,

And plenteous harvests joy the humble swain:

On Wintry winds thine aw [...]ul chariot flies,

When gath'ring storms envelop [...] all the skies;

On Glory thron'd, with f [...]ames ab [...]ut thee roll'd;

Light forms thy robes, and clouds thy wheels infold;

Around, ten thousand sparkling angels glow,

Brighten the heavens, and shake the world below.

At thy command, war glitters o'er the plain;

Thou speak'st—and peace revives the fields again,

Vast empires rise, and citi [...] gild the day;

Thou frown'st—and kings and kingdoms melt away.

BRITANNIA'S happy islands, rais'd by Thee,

Awe the wide world, and rule the boundless [...];

Led by thine arm, WOLFE humbled haughty [...]UL,

And glorious A [...]ERST taught her pride to fall.

May this blest land with grateful praise adore

Such boundless goodness, and such boundless power.

See heaven-born Peace, descending from the sky,

Bids discord vanish, and her horrors fly;

The wearied nations hear her gentle voice▪

Own her glad s [...]y, and wish for milder joys;

Swift o'er the land, the blissful [...]idings ring,

The vallies brighten and the nations sing.

As when long night has dwelt on Z [...]LA's [...]hore,

Where winter reigns, and storms around him [...],

Soon as the rising sun begins to r [...]ll,

And gild with [...]er beam [...] the [...] pole,

The streams dissolve, the fields no longer mourn,

And raptur'd regions hail his glad retu [...].

[Page]Where once dark Superstition fix'd her throne;

Where soul-exalting science never shone;

Where every social joy was drown'd in bloo [...] ▪

Where Hunger ceaseless rang'd the groves for food:

Where no gay fruits adorn'd the dreary plain;

No mountains brighten'd with the teeming grain;

No flocks nor herds along the hills were seen,

Nor swains nor hamlets ch [...] [...]he lonely green:

See num'rous infant states [...]egin to grow;

See every state with peace and plenty flow;

See splendid towns o'er all the land extend;

The temples glitter and the spires ascend.

The rip'ning harvest waves along the hills,

The orchard blossoms, and the pasture smiles.

Unnumber'd vessels skim the liquid plain,

Search every realm, that hears the roaring main,

And fill'd with treasures, bid our shores behold

The eastern spices and the southern gold.

Celestial science, raptur'd we descry

Refulgent beaming o'er the western sky;

Bright Liberty extends her b [...]ful reign,

With all the graces sparkling in her train:

Religion shines with a superiour blaze,

And heaven-born virtue beams diviner rays;

Justice enthron'd maintains an equal sway,

The poor dwell safely, and the proud obey.

O Land supremely blest! to thee tis given

To taste the choicest joys of bounteous heaven;

Thy rising Glory shall expand its rays,

And lands and times unknown rehearse thine endless praise.

As in a lonely vale, with glooms o'erspread,

Retir'd I rov'd, where guiding fancy led,

Deep silence reign'd; a sudden stream of light

Flam'd through the darksome grove & chear'd the night;

An awful form advanc'd along the ground,

And circling glories cast a radiance round:

[Page]Her face divine with sparkling brightness shone

Like the clear splendour of the mid-day sun;

Robes o [...] pure white her heavenly limbs infold,

And on her scepter FREEDOM blaz'd in gold.

"Mortal! attend" (she said and smil'd sublime)

Borne down the strea [...] of ever rolling time,

View the bright scenes which wait this happy shore,

Her virtue, wisdom, arts and glorious power."

"I see, where Discord thund'ring from afar,

Sounds her shrill trump and wakes the flames of war;

Rous'd by her voice, vast hosts together driven▪

Shake the wide earth, rend air, and darken heaven:

The cannons roar, the fields are heap'd with [...]lain▪

And storms of fire are blown along the plain."

"Behold! my Heroes lead the glorious way,

Where warring millions roll in dread array,

Awful as Angels, thron'd on streams of fire,

When trembling nations feel the thund'rer's ire:

Before them, Terror wings the rapid [...]ight,

And Death behind them shrouds whole realms in night,"

"Then, white-rob'd Peace begins her milder reign,

And all the virtues croud her lovely train.

Lo! heaven-born Science every bosom warms,

And the fair Arts unveil their lovely charms."

"See! blest Philosophy inspires the soul▪

To roam from land to land, from pole to pole;

To soar beyond the sun, to worlds on high▪

Which roll in millions round th' unmeasur'd sky;

To mark the comet thro' his pathless ma [...].

Whilst his bright glories set the heavens on blaze."

"Her nobler Sister too shall charm the mind

With moral raptures and with truths refin'd;

Religion lead whole realms to worlds of joy,

Undying peace and bliss without alloy."

"See Hist'ry all the scenes of time unveil

And bid my sons attend her wondrous tale!

[Page]Led by her voice, behold them mount the throne

And stretch their sway to regions yet unknown!"

"See all the powers of Poetry unite

To paint Religion's charms divinely bright;

To sing his name, who made you orbs of fire,

Spread out the sky and form'd th' angelic choir:

Seraphs themselves inspire the sacred lays,

And stoop from heaven to hear their Maker's praise!"

"See Sculpture mould the rude unpolish'd stone,

Give it new forms and beauties not its own;

Bid the gay marble leap to life and breath,

And call up heroes from the realms of Death!"

"Behold the canvas glow with living dies,

Tall groves shoot up, streams wind and mountains rise!

Again the fair unfolds a heaven of charms,

And the bold leader frowns in dreadful arms."

"Then Eloquence soft pity shall inspire,

Smooth the rough breast, or set the soul on fire;

Teach guilt to tremble at th' Almighty name,

Unsheath his sword and make his lightnings flame;

Or reach out grace more mild than falling dews,

While pale Despair th' affrighted soul pursues."

"Hail Land of light and joy! thy power shall grow

Far as the seas, which round thy regions flow;

Through earth's wide realms thy glory shall extend,

And savage nations at thy scepter bend.

Around the frozen shores thy sons shall sail,

Or stretch their canvas to the ASIAN gale,

Or, like COLUMBUS, steer their course unknown,

Beyond the regions of the flaming zone,

To worlds unfound beneath the southern pole,

Whose native hears Antarctic oceans roll;

Where artless Nature rules with peaceful sway,

And where no ship [...]'er stemm'd the untry'd way."

For thee, proud INDIA'S spicy isles shall blow,

Bright silks be wrought, and sparkling diamonds glow;

[Page]Earth's richest realms their treasures shall unfold,

And op'ning mountains yield the flaming gold;

Round thy broad fields more glorious ROMES arise,

With pomp and splendour bright'ning all the skies;

EUROPE and ASIA with surprize behold

Thy temples starr'd with gems and roof'd with gold.

From realm to realm broad APPIAN ways shall wind,

And distant shores by long canals be join'd,

The ocean hear thy voice, the waves obey,

And through green vallies trace their wat'ry way.

No more shall War her fearful horrors sound,

Nor strew her thousands on th' embattled ground;

No more on earth shall Rage and Discord dwell,

But sink with Envy to their native hell."

"Then, then an heavenly kingdom shall descend,

And Light and Glory through the world extend;

Th' Almighty Saviour his great power display

From rising morning to the setting day;

Love reign triumphant, Fraud and Malice cease,

And every region smile in endless peace:

Till the last trump the slumbering dead inspire,

Shake the wide heavens, and set the world on fire;

Thron'd on a flaming cloud, with brightness crown'd,

The Judge descend, and angels shine around,

The mountains melt, the moon and stars decay,

The sun grow dim, and Nature roll away;

GOD's happy children mount to worlds above,

Drink streams of purest joy and taste immortal love."

§

§

[Page]

[Page]

AMERICA: OR, A POEM ON THE SETTLEMENT OF THE BRITISH COLONIES; ADDRESSED To the Friends of Freedom, and their Country.

By a GENTLEMAN educated at Yale-College.

NEW-HAVEN: Printed by THOMAS and SAMUEL GREEN.

Information about this book

Title statement

America: or, A poem on the settlement of the British colonies; addressed to the friends of freedom, and their country. / By a gentleman educated at Yale-College.

Dwight, Timothy, 1752-1817.

Publication

Publisher

Text Creation Partnership,

Place of publication

Ann Arbor, MI :

Date

2007-01.

ID [DLPS]

N13258

ID [TCP]

N13258

ID [STC]

Evans 11700

ID [STC]

Evans 16766

ID [NOTIS]

APX6431

ID [IMAGE-SET]

16766

ID [EVANS-CITATION]

99023243

Availability

This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal. The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.

Series

Early American Imprints, 1639-1800 ; no. 11700.Early American Imprints, 1639-1800 ; no. 16766.

Notes

(Evans-TCP ; no. N13258)

Transcribed from: (Readex Archive of Americana ; Early American Imprints, series I ; image set 16766)

Images scanned from Readex microprint and microform: (Early American imprints. First series ; no. 11700; 16766)

Source

— America: or, A poem on the settlement of the British colonies; addressed to the friends of freedom, and their country. / By a gentleman educated at Yale-College., Dwight, Timothy, 1752-1817., Livingston, William, 1723-1790..

Extent

12 p. ; 19 cm.

Printed by Thomas and Samuel Green.,. New-Haven: :: [1780]. (Attributed to Timothy Dwight in BAL. Erroneously attributed to William Livingston (Evans entry 11700, misdated 1770).) (Date of publication supplied from BAL.)

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