The breaking waves dashed high
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On a stern and rock-bound coast,
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And the woods against a stormy sky
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Their giant branches tossed;
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And the heavy night hung dark
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The hills and waters o'er,
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When a band of exiles moored their bark
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On the wild New England shore.
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Not as the conqueror comes,
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They, the true-hearted, came—
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Not with the roll of the stirring drums,
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And the trumpet that sings of fame;
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Not as the flying come,
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In silence and in fear;
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They shook the depths of the desert's gloom
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With their hymns of lofty cheer.
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Amidst the storms they sang;
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And the stars heard, and the sea;
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And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang
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To the anthem of the free.
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The ocean eagle soared
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From his nest by the white wave's foam;
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And the rocking pines of the forest roared—
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This was their welcome home!
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There were men with hoary hair
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Amidst that pilgrim band:
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Why had they come to wither there
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Away from their childhood's land?
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There was woman's fearless eye,
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Lit by her deep love's truth;
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There was manhood's brow serenely high,
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And the fiery heart of youth.
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What sought they thus afar?
|
Bright jewels of the mine?
|
The wealth of seas, the spoils of war?—
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They sought a faith's pure shrine.
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Ay, call it holy ground—
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The soil where first they trod!
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They have left unstained what there they found—
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Freedom to worship God!
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Felicia Hemans.
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"Marie, will you marry me?
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For you know how I love thee!
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Tell me, darling, will you be
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The wife of Bobby Shaftoe?"
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"Bobby, pray don't ask me more,
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For you've asked me twice before;
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Let us be good friends, no more,
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No more, Bobby Shaftoe."
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"If you will not marry me,
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I will go away to sea;
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And you ne'er again shall be
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A friend of Bobby Shaftoe."
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"Oh, you will not go away
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For you've said so twice to-day.
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Stop! He's gone! Dear Bobby, stay!
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Dearest Bobby Shaftoe!
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"Bobby Shaftoe's gone to sea,
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Silver buckles on his knee,
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But he'll come back and marry me,
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Pretty Bobby Shaftoe.
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"He will soon come back to me,
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And how happy I shall be,
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He'll come back and marry me,
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Dearest Bobby Shaftoe."
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"Bobby Shaftoe's lost at sea,
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He cannot come back to thee.
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And you ne'er again will see
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Your dear Bobby Shaftoe.
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