William McCarty, comp. The American National Song Book. 1842.
The NavyW
Of Columbia’s naval glory,
Since first victorious o’er the deep
Our eagle-flag was seen to sweep:
The glowing tale will form a page,
To grace the annals of the age,
And teach our sons to proudly claim
The brightest meed of naval fame.
In lofty strains the bard shall tell
How Truxton fought, how Somers fell!
How gallant Preble’s daring host
Triumph’d along the Moorish coast;
Forced the proud Infidel to treat,
And brought the crescent to their feet!
That guards Columbia’s boundless strand,
The youthful hero of the wave,
Decatur, bravest of the brave!
And Rodgers, whose triumphant name
Sounds from the trump of future fame!
And, O! forget not in the song
That bears my country’s fame along,
Victorious Hull, and conquering Jones,
Columbia’s own intrepid sons!
Whose matchless skill, and well served thunder,
Struck the proud flag of England under;
And threw, by hearts of freemen brave,
The British lion in the wave.
In song sublime their glorious fame,
Till time evolves the fated day
That sweeps these Union-States away;
Or, verging from its sinking shore,
The rolling ocean foams no more!
This brilliant tale of naval glory,
Feels not the patriot-warmth and fire
Of prophecy his soul inspire?
—Lifting the eternal veil away
That shrouds futurity from day;
And, after many a deed that cheers
The distant days of future years,
Reads upon every standard high,
That waves our eagle to the sky,
(With warm delight and proud emotion,)
“Columbia, mistress of the ocean!”