W

TO AMERICA-4 JULY, 1776

THEN England's king put English to the horn,1
To England thus spake England over sea,

"In peace be friend, in war my enemy";

Then countering pride with pride, and lies with scorn,
Broke with the man 2 whose ancestor had borne

A sharper pain for no more injury.

How otherwise should free men deal and be,

With patience frayed and loyalty outworn?

No act of England's shone more generous gules
Than that which sever'd once for all the strands

Which bound you English. You may search the lands
In vain, and vainly rummage in the schools,

To find a deed more English, or a shame

On England with more honor to her name.