Henry Keeling

“ Thy stars are the emblems of Commonwealths free,
Distinct as the billows, but one as the sea.
Each star of thy cluster contains of its own
Vast fountains of all that is bright,
Combined in their lustre, confed’rate became,
They bathe in an ocean of light;
Confederate, yet separate, their limits must be
Distinct as the billows, but one as the sea.
Attraction, repulsion, position combine,
Thy beauty and strength to secure,
May no sad revolution of nature be thine,
While nature herself shall endure ”