Classic Poem

Though few, with noble purpose came
Our fathers to this distant wild;
A Commonwealth they sought to frame,
From country, and from friends exiled.

Religious freedom here they sought,
In their own land to them denied;
With courage, and with faith they wrought,
Nor monarch feared, nor prelate's pride.

That Commonwealth to power has grown,
Religious liberty is ours;
What now we reap their hands have sown,
And changed the wild to garden bowers.

The trees they planted year by year
Still yield their precious fruit, and shade;
Fair Learning's gifts still flourish here,
And Law man's rights has sacred made.

They from their labors long have ceased,
On the green hill-sides saintly rest;
Their sons, in wealth, and power increased,
Have by their fathers' God been blest.

Their noble deeds our souls inspire,
Be ours their faith, and courage still;
Keep pure the home, the altar's fire,
And thus their cherished hopes fulfil.