Join thou their worship on those hills Of glorious martyrdom. And while the song of praise ascends, And while the torrent's voice Then let thy soul rejoice! Rejoice, that human hearts, through scorn, Through shame, through death, made strong, Before the rocks and heavens have borne Witness of God so long! THE SONGS OF OUR FATHERS. -“Sing aloud Wordsworth. Sing them upon the sunny hills, When days are long and bright, Is loveliest to the sight. Where ancient hunters rov’d, The songs our fathers lov'd ! The songs their souls rejoic'd to hear When harps were in the hall, Thrill on the banner'd wall: The songs that through our valleys green, Sent on from age to age, The peasant's heritage. The reaper sings them when the vale Is fill'd with plumy sheaves; The woodman, by the starlight pale Cheer'd homeward through the leaves : And unto them the glancing oars A joyous measure keep, Where the dark rocks that crest our shores Dash back the foaming deep. So let it be !-a light they shed O'er each old fount and grove; A memory of the gentle dead, A spell of lingering love : Murmuring the names of mighty men, They bid our streams roll on, And link high thoughts to every glen Where valiant deeds were done. 122 THE SONGS OF OUR FATHERS. Teach them your children round the hearth, When evening-fires burn clear, And on the hills of deer! When far those lov'd ones roam, To childhood's holy home. The green woods of their native land Shall whisper in the strain, Shall sweetly speak again ; Where like the stag they rov'd- The songs your fathers lov'd. THE BURIAL OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. Lowly upon his bier The royal conqueror lay, Silent in war-array. Down the long minster's aisle, Crowds mutely gazing stream’d, Altar and tomb, the while, Through mists of incense gleam'd: And by the torch's blaze The stately priest had said High words of power and praise, To the glory of the dead. |