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Home  »  A Library of American Literature  »  Hail Columbia

Stedman and Hutchinson, comps. A Library of American Literature:
An Anthology in Eleven Volumes. 1891.
Vols. IX–XI: Literature of the Republic, Part IV., 1861–1889

Hail Columbia

By Joseph Hopkinson (1770–1842)

[Born in Philadelphia, Penn., 1770. Died there, 1842. Adapted to the tune of the “President’s March,” and first sung at the Chestnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia, 1798.]

HAIL, Columbia! happy land!

Hail, ye heroes! heaven-born band!

Who fought and bled in Freedom’s cause,

Who fought and bled in Freedom’s cause,

And when the storm of war was gone,

Enjoyed the peace your valor won.

Let independence be our boast,

Ever mindful what it cost;

Ever grateful for the prize,

Let its altar reach the skies.

Firm, united, let us be,

Rallying round our Liberty;

As a band of brothers joined,

Peace and safety we shall find.

Immortal patriots! rise once more:

Defend your rights, defend your shore:

Let no rude foe, with impious hand,

Let no rude foe, with impious hand,

Invade the shrine where sacred lies

Of toil and blood the well-earned prize.

While offering peace sincere and just,

In Heaven we place a manly trust,

That truth and justice will prevail,

And every scheme of bondage fail.

Firm, united, etc.

Sound, sound, the trump of Fame!

Let WASHINGTON’S great name

Ring through the world with loud applause,

Ring through the world with loud applause;

Let every clime to Freedom dear,

Listen with a joyful ear.

With equal skill, and godlike power,

He governed in the fearful hour

Of horrid war; or guides, with ease,

The happier times of honest peace.

Firm, united, etc.

Behold the chief who now commands,

Once more to serve his country, stands—

The rock on which the storm will beat;

The rock on which the storm will beat,

But, armed in virtue firm and true,

His hopes are fixed on Heaven and you.

When hope was sinking in dismay,

And glooms obscured Columbia’s day,

His steady mind, from changes free,

Resolved on death or liberty.

Firm, united, let us be,

Rallying round our Liberty;

As a band of brothers joined,

Peace and safety we shall find.