Revealed, as in a lightning flash,
A Hero stood!
The invading foe, the trumpet's crash,
Set up his blood!
High o'er the sacred pile that bends
Those forms above,
Thy Star, O Freedom! brightly blends
Its rays with Love.
The banner of a mighty race
Serenely there
Unfurls--the genius of the place,
And haunted air!
A vow is registered in heaven--
Patriot! 'twas thine
To guard those matchless colors, given
By hand divine.
Jackson! thy spirit may not hear
The wail ascend!
A nation bends above thy bier,
And mourns its friend.
Thy example is thy monument;
In organ tones
Thy name resounds, with glory blent,
Prouder than thrones!
And they whose loss has been our gain--
A People's care
Shall win their hearts from pain,
And wipe the tear.
When time shall set the captive free,
Now scathed by wrath,
Heirs of his immortality,
Bright be their path.