APRIL 27,1861 <br /> <br />EIGHTY years have passed, and more, <br />Since under the brave old tree <br />Our fathers gathered in arms, and swore <br />They would follow the sign their banners bore, <br />And fight till the land was free. <br /> <br />Half of their work was done, <br />Half is left to do,-- <br />Cambridge, and Concord, and Lexington! <br />When the battle is fought and won, <br />What shall be told of you? <br /> <br />Hark!--'t is the south-wind moans,-- <br />Who are the martyrs down? <br />Ah, the marrow was true in your children's bones <br />That sprinkled with blood the cursed stones <br />Of the murder-haunted town! <br /> <br />What if the storm-clouds blow? <br />What if the green leaves fall? <br />Better the crashing tempest's throe <br />Than the army of worms that gnawed below; <br />Trample them one and all! <br /> <br />Then, when the battle is won, <br />And the land from traitors free, <br />Our children shall tell of the strife begun <br />When Liberty's second April sun <br />Was bright on our brave old tree!<br /><br />Oliver Wendell Holmes<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/under-the-washington-elm-cambridge/
