Chapter XXXVI

O virtue! ever be my guide,
Whatever storms my life betide!
May I, where’er my wand’rings lead,
Still scorn dishonor’s thriftless deed,
Still glory in a spotless name,
My wishes few, my passions tame;
Still, may my native country be
Dearer than foreign climes, to me:
Still, may the mem’ry of my sires
My bosom fill with patriot fires;
Awake Columbia’s spirit there,
And prompt, her weal, and wo to share;
O who! that bears a human heart,
Would basely shun an active part,
In day of danger, and of dread,
When foes their native soil invade,
Would mark their country drench’d in blood,
Nor pant to join the sanguine flood.
To die, or conquer in her cause,
And win fair virtue’s warm applause;
To plant, upon the tott’ring breach,
Her eagle banner stain’d with gore;
To pour the life-stream on the beach,
Ere foot of foeman touch’d the shore,
Where freedom dwells forevermore.