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OUR COUNTRY'S CALL.

See, from a thousand coverts

see

Spring the armed foes that haunt her track;

They rush to smite her down, and we
Must beat the banded traitors back.

Ho! sturdy as the oaks ye cleave,

And moved as soon to fear and flight,
Men of the glade and forest! leave
Your woodcraft for the field of fight.
The arms that wield the axe must pour
An iron tempest on the foe

His serried ranks shall reel before
The arm that lays the panther low.

And

ye who breast the mountain storm By grassy steep or highland lake, Come, for the land ye love, to form

A bulwark that no foe can break.
Stand, like your own gray cliffs that mock
The whirlwind; stand in her defence:
The blast as soon shall move the rock
As rushing squadrons bear ye thence.

And ye, whose homes are by her grand
Swift rivers, rising far away,
Come from the depth of her green land

As mighty in your march as they;

OUR COUNTRY'S CALL.

As terrible as when the rains

Have swelled them over bank and bourne, With sudden floods to drown the plains

And sweep along the woods uptorn.

And ye who throng, beside the deep,
Her ports and hamlets of the strand,
In number like the waves that leap

On his long murmuring marge of sand,
Come, like that deep, when, o'er his brim,
He rises, all his floods to pour,
And flings the proudest barks that swim,
A helpless wreck against his shore.

Few, few were they whose swords, of old,
Won the fair land in which we dwell;
But we are many, we who hold

The grim resolve to guard it well.
Strike for that broad and goodly land,
Blow after blow, till men shall see
That Might and Right move hand in hand,
And glorious must their triumph be.

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TOLL! Roland, toll!

In old St. Bavon's tower,

At midnight hour,

The great Bell Roland spoke!

All souls that slept in Ghent awoke !
What meant the thunder stroke?
Why trembled wife and maid ?
Why caught each man his blade?
Why echoed every street
With tramp of thronging feet?

All flying to the city's wall!
It was the warning call

That Freedom stood in peril of a foe!

And even timid hearts grew bold

Whenever Roland tolled,

And every hand a sword could hold!

So acted men

*The famous bell Roland, of Ghent, was an object of great affection to the people, because it rang to arm them when Liberty was in danger.

THE GREAT BELL ROLAND.

Like patriots thenThree hundred years ago!

II.

Toll! Roland, toll!

Bell never yet was hung,
Between whose lips there swung
So grand a tongue!

If men be patriots still,
At thy first sound

True hearts will bound,

Great souls will thrill!

Then toll and strike the test
Through each man's breast,

Till loyal hearts shall stand confest,
And may God's wrath smite all the rest!

III.

Toll! Roland, toll!

Not now in old St. Bavon's tower

Not now at midnight hour

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Not now from River Scheldt to Zuyder Zee,

But here, this side the sea!

Toll here, in broad, bright day!—

For not by night awaits

A noble foe without the gates,

But perjured friends within betray,

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THE GREAT BELL ROLAND.

And do the deed at noon!

Toll! Roland, toll!

Thy sound is not too soon!

To Arms! Ring out the Leader's call!
Reëcho it from East to West

Till every hero's breast

Shall swell beneath a soldier's crest!
Toll! Roland, toll!

Till cottager from cottage wall

Snatch pouch and powder-horn and gun !
The sire bequeathed them to the son
When only half their work was done!
Toll! Roland, toll!

Till swords from scabbards leap!

Toll! Roland, toll!

What tears can widows weep

Less bitter than when brave men fall!

Toll! Roland, toll!

In shadowed hut and hall

Shall lie the soldier's pall,

[filled!

And hearts shall break while graves are

Amen! So God hath willed!

And may His grace anoint us all!

IV.

Toll! Roland, toll!

The Dragon on thy tower
Stands sentry to this hour,

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