THRICE welcome to thy sisters of the East, <br />To the strong tillers of a rugged home, <br />With spray-wet locks to Northern winds released, <br />And hardy feet o'erswept by ocean's foam; <br />And to the young nymphs of the golden West, <br />Whose harvest mantles, fringed with prairie bloom, <br />Trail in the sunset, — O redeemed and blest, <br />To the warm welcome of thy sisters come! <br />Broad Pennsylvania, down her sail-white bay <br />Shall give thee joy, and Jersey from her plains, <br />And the great lakes, where echo, free alway, <br />Moaned never shoreward with the clank of chains, <br />Shall weave new sun-bows in their tossing spray, <br />And all their waves keep grateful holiday. <br />And, smiling on thee through her mountain rains, <br />Vermont shall bless thee; and the granite peaks, <br />And vast Katahdin o'er his woods, shall wear <br />Their snow-crowns brighter in the cold, keen air; <br />And Massachusetts, with her rugged cheeks <br />O'errun with grateful tears, shall turn to thee, <br />When, at thy bidding, the electric wire <br />Shall tremble northward with its words of fire; <br />Glory and praise to God! another State is free!<br /><br />John Greenleaf Whittier<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/to-delaware/
