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46 America and Other Poems With pealing trump, and rolling drum, And cannon booming loud and far; Striving in blood to wash out blood, Through wrong to seek redress for wrong; For while thou ’rt holy, just and good, The battle is not to the strong; But in the sacred name of peace, Of justice, virtue, love and truth, We pray, and never mean to cease, Till weak old age and fiery youth In freedom’s cause their voices raise, And burst the bonds of every slave; Till, north and south, and east and west, The wrongs we bear shall be redressed. CHRISTMAS HYMN HAIL, glorious morn! whose radiant beams, Looked down on Christ’s nativity, For every year thy presence teems With joy and glad festivity. On Judea’s plains⁷ th’ angelic throng Burst on the shepherds’ awe-struck gaze, And raised on high a new-made song Unto their great Creator’s praise. The star of Bethlehem’s heavenly light Guided the wise men from the east, Who came to lay their power and might, Their wisdom, at the Saviour’s feet. 7. Southernmost region of ancient Palestine. America and Other Poems 47 Oh, may that star’s resplendent light Continue o’er the world to shine, Till nations now in Pagan night Shall worship at thy holy shrine. Till all the people of the earth, From north to south, from east to west, Hear tidings of the Saviour’s birth, And bow unto his great behest. Till superstition’s blighting sway Shall flee before religion’s light, As doth the glorious orb of day Disperse the shadows of the night. LINES ON THE DEATH OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS⁸ THE great, the good, the just, the true, Has yielded up his latest breath; The noblest man our country knew, Bows to the ghastly monster, Death; The son of one whose deathless name Stands first on history’s brightest page; The highest on the list of fame As statesman, patriot, and sage. 8. The son of Abigail Adams and John Adams, the second president of the United States, John Quincy Adams (1767–1848) served as the sixth president of the United States (1825–29). Soon after leaving office, he was elected to Congress and became a vociferous opponent of slavery. He took particular aim at the gag rules that prohibited the acknowledgment and consideration of antislavery petitions in Congress. In 1841 Adams participated in the defense of the Amistad slave rebels in a case that the Supreme Court decided in favor of Joseph Cinqué and the other West Africans on the Spanish slaver. ...

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