Up!-up!-in nobler toil than ours No craftsmen bear a part: We make of Nature's giant powers The slaves of human Art. Lay rib to rib and beam to beam, And drive the treenails free; Nor faithless joint nor yawning seam Shall tempt the searching sea!
Where'er the keel of our good ship The sea's rough field shall plough- Where'er her tossing spars shall drip With salt-spray caught below- That ship must heed her master's beck, Her helm obey his hand, And seamen tread her reeling deck As if they trod the land.
Her oaken ribs the vulture-beak Of Northern ice may peel; The sunken rock and coral peak May grate along her keel; And know we well the painted shel We give to wind and wave, Must float, the sailor's citadel,
Or sink, the sailor's grave!
Ho!-strike away the bars and blocks, And set the good ship free! Why lingers on these dusty rocks - The young bride of the sea? Look! how she moves adown the grooves, In graceful beauty now! How lowly on the breast she loves
Sinks down her virgin prow!
God bless her! wheresoe'er the breeze Her snowy wing shall fan,
Aside the frozen Hebrides,
Or sultry Hindostan! Where'er, in mart or on the main, With peaceful flag unfurled, She helps to wind the silken chain Of commerce round the world!
Speed on the ship!-But let her bear No merchandise of sin, No groaning cargo of despair Her roomy hold within. No Lethean drug for Eastern lands, Nor poison-draught for ours; But honest fruits of toiling hands And Nature's sun and showers.
Be hers the Prairie's golden grain, The Desert's golden sand, The clustered fruits of sunny Spain, The spice of Morning-land! Her pathway on the open main May blessings follow free, And glad hearts welcome back again Her white sails from the sea!
Ho! workers of the old time styled The Gentle Craft of Leather! Young brothers of the ancient guild, Stand forth once more together! Call out again your long array, In the olden merry manner! Once more, on gay St. Crispin's day, Fling out your blazoned banner!
Rap, rap! upon the well-worn stone How falls the polished hammer!
Rap, rap! the measured sound has grown A quick and merry clamor. Now shape the sole! now deftly curl The glossy vamp around it, And bless the while the bright-eyed girl Whose gentle fingers bound it!
For you, along the Spanish main A hundred keels are ploughing; For you, the Indian on the plain His lasso-coil is throwing; For you, deep glens with hemlock dark The woodman's fire is lighting; For you, upon the oak's gray bark, The woodman's axe is smiting.
For you, from Carolina's pine The rosin-gum is stealing; For you, the dark-eyed Florentine Her silken skein is reeling; For you, the dizzy goat-herd roams His rugged Alpine ledges; For you, round all her shepherd homes, Bloom England's thorny hedges.
The foremost still, by day or night, On moated mound or heather, Where'er the need of trampled right Brought toiling men together; Where the free burghers from the wall Defied the mail-clad master, Than yours, at Freedom's trumpet-call, No craftsmen rallied faster.
Let foplings sneer, let fools deride- Ye heed no idle scorner; Free hands and hearts are still your pride, And duty done, your honor. Ye dare to trust, for honest fame,
The jury Time empanels, And leave to truth each noble name Which glorifies your annals.
Thy songs, Han Sachs, are living yet, In strong and hearty German; And Bloomfield's lay, and Gifford's wit, And patriot fame of Sherman ; Still from his book, a mystic seer, The soul of Behmen teaches, And England's priestcraft shakes to hear Of Fox's leathern breeches.
The foot is yours; where'er it falls, It treads your well-wrought leather, On earthen floor, in marble halls, On carpet, or on heather. Still there the sweetest charm is found Of matron grace or vestal's, As Hebe's foot bore nectar round Among the old celestials!
Rap! rap! your stout and bluff brogan, With footsteps slow and weary, May wander where the sky's blue span Shuts down upon the prairie. On Beauty's foot, your slippers glance, By Saratoga's fountains,
Or twinkle down the summer dance Beneath the Crystal Mountains!
The red brick to the mason's hand, The brown earth to the tiller's, The shoe in yours shall wealth command, Like fairy Cinderella's!
As they who shunned the household maid Beheld the crown upon her, So all shall see your toil repaid
With hearth and home and honor.
Then let the toast be freely quaffed, In water cool and brimming- "All honor to the good old Craft, Its merry men and women!” Call out again your long array, In the old time's pleasant manner; Once more, on gay St. Crispin's day, Fling out his blazoned banner!
THROUGH heat and cold, and shower and sun, Still onward cheerly driving! There's life alone in duty done, And rest alone in striving. But see! the day is closing cool, The woods are dim before us; The white fog of the way-side pool Is creeping slowly o'er us..
The night is falling, comrades mine, Our foot-sore beasts are weary, And through yon elms the tavern sign Looks out upon us cheery. The landlord beckons from his door, His beechen fire is glowing; These ample barns, with feed in store, Are filled to overflowing.
From many a valley frowned across By brows of rugged mountains; From hill-sides where, through spongy moss, Gush out the river fountains; From quiet farm-fields, green and low, And bright with blooming clover; From vales of corn the wandering crow No richer hovers over;
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