The Banner of Freedom

                                   I.
'Tis the Banner whose folds floated over our sires 
     When the trumpet's shrill blast summoned heroes to war; 
When the hills were aglow with their signaling fires, 
     Through the smoke-clouds of battle it shone like a star,
               And our bravest and best
               Came at Freedom's behest
To strike for the rights of a people oppressed,
And knelt at her altars, and swore to be true
To the Banner of Freedom — the red, white, and blue.

                                   II.
Through conflicts and perils, while over their sky
     The night of disaster gloomed black with despair, 
Right onward, like heroes, to do or to die,
     They followed that Banner unfurled to the air. 
               Torn by shot and by shell, 
               O! it beaconed them well
Through the red storm of battle and up from its hell. 
Till the right and the might clasped their hands in the fight, 
And victory beamed from that Banner of light!

                                   III.
Where Treason, grown drunk on the blood of the slave, 
     Insanely the life of our nation assailed, 
Upheld by the hands of the loyal and brave,
     That flag was the sign through which Freedom prevailed !
               From each star-blazoned fold, 
               To the free winds unrolled, 
Spoke the souls of the fathers who conquered of old, 
And bade us, their children, be faithful and true 
To that battle-torn Banner — the red, white, and blue!

                                   IV.
Unfurl it once more ! — let it beacon us on,
     Not to fields where the cannon-shot ploughs up its path, 
But to those where the triumphs of peace may be won 
     By the weapons of truth, never wielded in wrath;
               Hoary Error turns pale 
               As they smite through her mail, 
And the hour hastens on when the Right shall prevail, 
And the Banner of Freedom triumphantly wave 
O'er a land in which breathes neither tyrant nor slave.