The breaking waves dashed high <br />On a stern and rock-bound coast, <br />And the woods, against a stormy sky, <br />Their giant branches tost; <br /> <br />And the heavy night hung dark <br />The hills and water o'er, <br />When a band of exiles moored their bark <br />On the wild New England shore. <br /> <br />Not as the conqueror comes, <br />They, the true-hearted, came; <br />Not with the roll of the stirring drums, <br />And the trumpet that sings of fame; <br /> <br />Not as the flying come, <br />In silence and in fear, - <br />They shook the depths of the desert's gloom <br />With their hymns of lofty cheer. <br /> <br />Amidst the storm they sang, <br />And the stars heard and the sea; <br />And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang <br />To the anthem of the free. <br /> <br />The ocean-eagle soared <br />From his nest by the white wave's foam, <br />And the rocking pines of the forest roared - <br />This was their welcome home! <br /> <br />There were men with hoary hair <br />Amidst that pilgrim band: <br />Why had they come to wither there, <br />Away from their childhood's land? <br /> <br />There was woman's fearless eye, <br />Lit by her deep love's truth; <br />There was manhood's brow serenely high, <br />And the fiery heart of youth. <br /> <br />What sought they thus afar? <br />Bright jewels of the mine? <br />The wealth of the seas? the spoils of war? - <br />They sought a faith's pure shrine! <br /> <br />Ay, call it holy ground, <br />The soil where first they trod! <br />They have left unstained what there they found - <br />Freedom to worship God!<br /><br />Elizabeth Barrett Browning<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-landing-of-the-pilgrim-fathers/
