Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, NEW LONDON, by FRANCES M. CAULKINS


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

NEW LONDON, by                    
First Line: When this fair town was nam-e-aug
Last Line: Laid deep for us these firm foundations.
Subject(s): New London, Connecticut


WHEN this fair town was Nam-e-aug,
A bleak, rough waste of hill and bog,
In huts of seaweed, thatch, and log,
Our fathers few, but strong and cheery,
Sate down amid these deserts dreary.

'T was all a wild, unchristian wood;
A fearful, boisterous solitude;
A harbor for the wild-fowl's brood,
Where countless flocks of every pinion
Held o'er the shores a bold dominion.

The sea-hawk hung his cumbrous nest,
Oak-propped, on every highland crest;
Cranes through the seedy marshes prest;
The curlew, by the river lying,
Looked on God's image, him defying.

The eagle-king soared high and free,
His shadow on the glassy sea
A sudden ripple seemed to be;
The sunlight in his pinions burning
Shrouded him from eyes upturning.

They came; the weary-footed band,
The paths they cleared, the streams they spanned;
The woodland genius grew more bland;
In haste his tangled vines unweaving,
Them and their hopes with joy receiving.

Great hearts were those that hither came, --
A Winthrop of undying fame,
A Brewster of an honored name, --
Great hearts, the growth of three great nations,
Laid deep for us these firm foundations.





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