High on the world did our fathers of old,
Under the stars and stripes,
Blazon the name that we now must uphold,
Under the stars and stripes.
Vast in the past they have builded an arch
Over which Freedom has lighted her torch.
Follow it! Follow it! Come, let us march
Under the stars and stripes!
_Chorus._
Under the stars and stripes,
Under the stars and stripes!
Follow it, follow it, come, let us march
Under the stars and stripes!
Follow it, follow it, come, let us march
Under the stars and stripes!
We in whose bodies the blood of them runs,
Under the stars and stripes,
We will acquit us as sons of their sons,
Under the stars and stripes.
Ever for justice, our heel upon wrong,
We in the light of our vengeance thrice strong
Rally together! Come tramping along
Under the stars and stripes!
_SOLDIERS AND SAILORS_ (_with hands at salute_):
“I pledge allegiance to my Flag, and to the Republic for which it
stands--one Nation, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.”
_AMERICA_:
“Freedom for all, forever!”
FINALE: (_Last stanza of_--STAR-SPANGLED BANNER):
_CHORUS_: _ALL_:
“Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation,
Blessed with victory and peace, may the heaven rescued land
Praise the power that has made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust,’
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!”
_CURTAIN_
The quotations used have been selected from the following:
READY, AYE, READY _Herman C. Merivale_
I GIVE MY SOLDIER BOY A BLADE _William Maginn_
HORATIUS AT THE BRIDGE _Thomas B. Macaulay_
COLUMBUS _Joaquin Miller_
UNMANIFEST DESTINY _Henry Holcomb Bennett_
THE PARTING OF THE WAYS _Joseph B. Gilder_
(_To fit the context the first line of this poem has been
slightly changed. The original reads, “Untrammelled Giant of
the West.”_)
A SONG OF THE ALLIES _Irene Brush_
TO ENGLAND _George Henry Boker_
TO AMERICA _Alfred Austin_
THE AMERICAN FLAG _Charles G. Crellin_
ARMAGEDDON _Edwin Arnold_
MARCO BOZZARIUS _Fitz-Greene Halleck_