WHAT flower is this that greets the morn, <br /> Its hues from Heaven so freshly born? <br /> With burning star and flaming band <br /> It kindles all the sunset land: <br /> Oh tell us what its name may be,-- <br /> Is this the Flower of Liberty? <br /> <br /> It is the banner of the free, <br /> The starry Flower of Liberty! <br /> <br /> In savage Nature's far abode <br /> Its tender seed our fathers sowed; <br /> The storm-winds rocked its swelling bud, <br /> Its opening leaves were streaked with blood, <br /> Till lo! earth's tyrants shook to see <br /> The full-blown Flower of Liberty! <br /> <br /> Then hail the banner of the free, <br /> The starry Flower of Liberty! <br /> <br /> Behold its streaming rays unite, <br /> One mingling flood of braided light,-- <br /> The red that fires the Southern rose, <br /> With spotless white from Northern snows, <br /> And, spangled o'er its azure, see <br /> The sister Stars of Liberty! <br /> <br /> Then hail the banner of the free, <br /> The starry Flower of Liberty! <br /> <br /> The blades of heroes fence it round, <br /> Where'er it springs is holy ground; <br /> From tower and dome its glories spread; <br /> It waves where lonely sentries tread; <br /> It makes the land as ocean free, <br /> And plants an empire on the sea! <br /> <br /> Then hail the banner of the free, <br /> The starry Flower of Liberty! <br /> <br /> Thy sacred leaves, fair Freedom's flower, <br /> Shall ever float on dome and tower, <br /> To all their heavenly colors true, <br /> In blackening frost or crimson dew,-- <br /> And God love us as we love thee, <br /> Thrice holy Flower of Liberty! <br /> <br /> Then hail the banner of the free, <br /> The starry FLOWER OF LIBERTY!<br /><br />Oliver Wendell Holmes<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-flower-of-liberty/
