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| THE ROCKY nook with hill-tops three | |
| Looked eastward from the farms, | |
| And twice each day the flowing sea | |
| Took Boston in its arms; | |
| The men of yore were stout and poor, | 5 |
| And sailed for bread to every shore. | |
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| And where they went on trade intent | |
| They did what freemen can, | |
| Their dauntless ways did all men praise, | |
| The merchant was a man. | 10 |
| The world was made for honest trade,— | |
| To plant and eat be none afraid. | |
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| The waves that rocked them on the deep | |
| To them their secret told: | |
| Said the winds that sung the lads to sleep, | 15 |
| “Like us be free and bold!” | |
| The honest waves refuse to slaves | |
| The empire of the ocean caves. | |
| |
| Old Europe groans with palaces, | |
| Has lords enough and more;— | 20 |
| We plant and build by foaming seas | |
| A city of the poor;— | |
| For day by day could Boston Bay | |
| Their honest labor overpay. | |
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| We grant no dukedoms to the few, | 25 |
| We hold like rights and shall;— | |
| Equal on Sunday in the pew, | |
| On Monday in the mall. | |
| For what avail the plough or sail, | |
| Or land or life, if freedom fail? | 30 |
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| The noble craftsman we promote, | |
| Disown the knave and fool; | |
| Each honest man shall have his vote, | |
| Each child shall have his school. | |
| A union then of honest men, | 35 |
| Or union nevermore again. * * * * * | |
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