  A song for our banner, the watchword recall Which gave the Republic her station: “United we stand—divided we fall!” It made and preserves us a nation. The union of lakes, the union of lands, The union of States none can sever! The union of hearts, the union of hands, And the Flag of our Union forever and ever, The Flag of our Union forever! What God in his infinite wisdom designed, And armed with republican thunder, Not all the earth’s despots and factions combined Have the power to conquer or sunder. The union of lakes, the union of lands, The union of States none can sever! The union of hearts, the union of hands, And the Flag of our Union forever and ever, The Flag of our Union forever! Oh, keep that flag flying! The pride of the van! To all other nations display it! The ladies for union are to a—man! And not to the man who’d betray it. Then the union of lakes, the union of lands, The union of States none can sever! The union of hearts, the union of hands, And the Flag of the Union forever! —George P. Morris. The author of The Flag of our Union was one of the most distinguished journalists of the early half of the nineteenth century in America. He was for many years the editor of the Mirror, which was in its time the best literary magazine in the country. Such men as William Cullen Bryant, Fitz-Green Halleck, Nathaniel P. Willis, Theodore S. Fay, and Epes Sargent found in its pages a chance to express the poetry, romance, and philosophy which flowed from their brilliant and graceful pens. Morris was the author of many songs and poems that have become household words throughout the land. Who does not recall,— “Woodman, spare that tree! Touch not a single bough! In youth it sheltered me, And I’ll protect it now. ’Twas my forefather’s hand That placed it near his cot: There, woodman, let it stand, Thy ax shall harm it not!” And these other lines from My Mother’s Bible, equally well known,— WEST POINT MILITARY ACADEMY (N. E. corner of cadets’ barracks) “This book is all that’s left me now:— Tears will unbidden start— With faltering lip and throbbing brow, I press it to my heart. For many generations past Here is our family tree: My mother’s hand this Bible clasped; She, dying, gave it me.” And what schoolboy of twenty-five years ago does not remember the song of The Whip-poor-will, the first verses of which always aroused his sympathetic interest?— “Why dost thou come at set of sun, Those pensive words to say? Why whip poor Will?—what has he done— And who is Will, I pray? “Why come from yon leaf-shaded hill A suppliant at my door?— Why ask of me to whip poor Will? And is Will really poor?” Morris had traveled abroad rather widely for that day, but instead of its weaning him from his native land, it made it all the more dear to him. He set this forth in a well-known song entitled, I’m with You once Again, which so accurately voices the feelings of thousands of loyal American travelers that it is worth repeating here:— “I’m with you once again, my friends, No more my footsteps roam; Where it began my journey ends, Amid the scenes of home. No other clime has skies so blue, Or streams so broad and clear, And where are hearts so warm and true As those that meet me here? “Since last, with spirits wild and free, I pressed my native strand, I’ve wandered many miles at sea, And many miles on land; I’ve seen fair realms of the earth, By rude commotion torn, Which taught me how to prize the worth Of that where I was born. “In other countries when I heard The language of my own, How fondly each familiar word Awoke an answering tone! But when our woodland songs were sung Upon a foreign mart, The vows that faltered on the tongue With rapture thrilled the heart. “My native land! I turn to you With blessing and with prayer, Where man is brave, and woman true And free as mountain air. Long may our flag in triumph wave, Against the world combined, And friends a welcome—foes a grave, Within our borders find.” In this song we see the spirit in which was written The Flag of our Union. Ten years before the War of the Rebellion, when the mutterings of the coming storm were already in the air, this poet and traveler, who had found his country’s flag such an inspiration when roving in foreign lands, poured out his heart in this hymn to the Flag. It was set to music by William Vincent Wallace, and was very popular in war times. It is worthy of popularity so long as the Flag of the Union shall wave. text decoration JOHN BROWN |
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