ON A HONEY BEE DRINKING FROM A GLASS OF WINE AND DROWNED THEREIN

MINOR POEMS OF THE REVOLUTION

[The songs, ballads, and fugitive poems of the Revolution form an interesting collection, though few of them are of especial literary worth. Even the best American national songs produced in the succeeding century are not ranked by impartial critics among the great patriotic poetry of the world; and it is natural that these songs of the Revolution, written when popular taste favored the artificial and the bombastic, should be mediocre in quality. Among the more important classes of poems produced at this time are modifications or parodies of popular songs, rude ballads narrating occurrences of the conflict, and lyrics intended to intensify feeling. Work of all these kinds varied in tone from the most seriously impassioned to broad and often coarse burlesque. An interesting phenomenon was the acceptance by one party of the excessive burlesques of the other, as in the numerous versions of "Yankee Doodle." As the Tories included in their number many of the most cultured men of the country, their songs and occasional poems were often more finished than those of their opponents. The loyalist poetry has, however, been less carefully preserved; and as it was largely in the formal manner preferred by an eighteenth-century gentleman it is somewhat less interesting than the rough and ready verse of the patriots. The selections given below show various forms of this popular poetry. "The Liberty Song," by John Dickinson, resulted from an attempt, on the part of a publicist who had neither the poetic temperament nor skill in versification, to manufacture a patriotic song. "The American Hero," called by its author "A Sapphic Ode," was the work of a scholarly minister and theologian. Loyalist poetry is represented by an anonymous song, "The British Light-Infantry,' and a selection from "The Congratulation," by Dr. Jonathan Odell. "The Yankee's Return from Camp" is perhaps the best-known version of the "Yankee Doodle" song. The other anonymous poems illustrate various kinds of popular songs. The ballad of "Nathan Hale" has, in parts, a real poetic quality.

"The British Light-Infantry" is from "The Loyalist Poetry of the Revolution," edited by Winthrop Sargent. The selection from "The Congratulation" is from the same editor's collection, "The Loyal Verses of Joseph Stansbury and Doctor Jonathan Odell." "The Yankee's Return from Camp" follows a broadside issued by Isaiah Thomas in 1813, as reprinted in Duyckinck's "Cyclopædia of American Literature." American Hero" is also copied from the last-named source. The other selections are taken from Moore's "Songs and Ballads of the American Revolution."]

"The

THE LIBERTY SONG

[By John Dickinson. 1768]

Come join hand in hand, brave Americans all,
And rouse your bold hearts at fair Liberty's call;
No tyrannous acts, shall suppress your just claim,
Nor stain with dishonor America's name.

In freedom we're born, and in freedom we'll live;
Our purses are ready,

Steady, Friends, steady,

Not as slaves, but as freemen our money we'll give.

Our worthy forefathers - let's give them a cheer
To climates unknown did courageously steer;
Thro' oceans to deserts, for freedom they came,
And, dying, bequeath'd us their freedom and fame.

Their generous bosoms all dangers despis'd,
So highly, so wisely, their birthrights they priz'd;
We'll keep what they gave, we will piously keep,
Nor frustrate their toils on the land or the deep.

The Tree, their own hands had to Liberty rear'd,
They lived to behold growing strong and rever'd;
With transport then cried, "Now our wishes we gain,
For our children shall gather the fruits of our pain.'

How sweet are the labors that freemen endure,
That they shall enjoy all the profit, secure, —
No more such sweet labors Americans know,
If Britons shall reap what Americans sow.

Swarms of placemen and pensioners soon will appear,
Like locusts deforming the charms of the year:
Suns vainly will rise, showers vainly descend,
If we are to drudge for what others shall spend.

Then join hand in hand brave Americans all,
By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall;
In so righteous a cause let us hope to succeed,
For Heaven approves of each generous deed.

All ages shall speak with amaze and applause,
Of the courage we'll show in support of our laws;
To die we can bear, - but to serve we disdain,
For shame is to freemen more dreadful than pain.

This bumper I crown for our sovereign's health,
And this for Britannia's glory and wealth;
That wealth, and that glory immortal may be,
If she is but just, and we are but free.
In freedom we're born, &c.

VIRGINIA BANISHING TEA

[By a young woman of Virginia. 1774]
Begone, pernicious, baneful tea,

With all Pandora's ills possessed,
Hyson, no more beguiled by thee
My noble sons shall be oppressed.

To Britain fly, where gold enslaves,

And venal men their birth-right sell;
Tell North and his bribed clan of knaves,
Their bloody acts were made in hell.

In Henry's reign those acts began,
Which sacred rules of justice broke
North now pursues the hellish plan,
To fix on us his slavish yoke.

But we oppose, and will be free,

This great good cause we will defend;
Nor bribe, nor Gage, nor North's decree,
Shall make us "at his feet to bend."