Classic Poem

At Lewes, Delaware, 1777

At these old capes, discovered oft,
We raise the Day and Night aloft;
The streaks of dawn, the stars of even,
Hope of the world and faith of Heaven.
O, day of Liberty, alight,
Down from the azure field of Night!
We trust this flag shall not be furled
Until 'tis loved around the world!
Chorus:
Avast, shipmates! half-mast o'erhead!
There pause a little for our dead.
Now, to the peak hoist, floating free,
The flag of life and Victory.

By women's hands 'twas sewed at morn
Like baby clothes for one unborn;
Washed in the tempest and the wind,
'Twill clothe the babe when it has mind;
In battle wave, like women's hands
To husbands, lovers, their commands
Not to be lowered from our peak
While hull can float or guns can speak!
Chorus:
Avast, shipmates! cheer as our crest
Our flag, the herald of the West!
Till perseverance adds more stars
In days of peace and dark of wars!

The blood-red stripes alternate glow
Like waves of sea in fight's flambeau;
The lines of white are like the comb
Of billows breaking into foam,
And in the depths the star field shown
Our constellation, shining down!
Chorus:
Avast, shipmates! Top-gallant sight
The spangled stars, the bars of light;
Shine till oppression's cloud be o'er
And rainbows arch from shore to shore!

Lift anchor! Let the broadside greet
The new-born signal to the fleet.
And trail it past the thousands miles,
A Comet o'er the British Isles,
Until the King shall feel its beams,
The Magian child in Herod's dreams!
Chorus:
Avast, shipmates! Now, three times three!
Speed the white swan of Liberty!
Republics more shall loose anew
The fairy flag — Red, White and Blue!