Classic Poem

Hold to the giant river,
Ye, with a giant claim!
Yours from the great All-Giver,
Yours in Jehovah's name!
By fireside, field, and altar,
By temple, by grove, by grave,
By the smiles and tears
Of a hundred years,
By the lifetime toil of your pioneers
And the life-blood of your braves.

De Soto sleeps in its bosom,
Yet the dreamer's dream was truth,
And he left to your watch the waters
Of the world's immortal youth;
Yours from the fount of story,
Yours till oblivion's wave,
By the deed of your day of glory,
By the seal of your Sidney's grave,
For yourselves, for your sons, forever,
And ever, to hold and to have;
The broad and abounding river,
Down to the salt sea wave;
While the waters flow,
While the grasses grow,
Till the last of your race lies cold and low,
Or God forgets the brave!