Patriotic song

“ Foreigners have remarked that the minstrelsy of Great Britain is singularly devoid of patriotic songs. The British soldier has no "Star-Spangled Banner" or "Wacht am Rhein" to sing on the line of march or in the bivouac, but only the last comic or sentimental ditty which he may have heard at the Garrison Music Hall before embarking on active service. The National Anthem is not a patriotic song but a prayer for Divine Protection for the Sovereign, to which have been appended some inappropriate stanzas now rarely heard ”

“ That such barren and bombastic lines as "The American Star" should have remained popular a quarter of a century seems incredible, and appears to indicate that the youth of the country were very hard up for patriotic songs worth singing. ”

“ Sweeter far the patriot’s name!
Should the God who smiles above thee,
Doom thee to a soldier’s grave,
Hearts will break, but fame will love thee,
Canonized among the brave!
Listen, then! thy country’s calling
On her sons to meet the foe!
Rather would I view thee lying
On the last red field of strife,
’Mid thy country’s heroes dying,
Than become a dastard’s wife!
[Pg 22]
THAT BUGLER; OR, THE UPIDEE SONG.
Words by A. G. Knight. Music by Armand.
[The music of this song can be procured of the Oliver Ditson Co., Boston, Mass., owners of the copyright.] ”

“ Of course they had "The Red, White and Blue" sung by the whole school; and "America," which can never be old to any of us; and for further recitations. "Independence Bell," and "The Blue and the Gray"—for what patriotic celebration would be complete without these?
The finest declamation of the day, given by the pride of the class, so far as elocutionary ability was concerned, and with a drum accompaniment by a corps of boys well drilled for the occasion, was the following stirring
SONG OF THE DRUM.
Rataplan! ”

“ MY OWN AMERICA, I LOVE THEE. A song that will bring a thrill of patriotism to the heart of every one who hears it. The children and grown-ups just can’t resist the catchy music. It makes a capital marching song. ”

“ All the best elements of a great and glorious ceremonial were displayed—colour and form and ordered motion; noble music set to stirring words; and human voices lifted even above their ordinary beauty by the emotion of a high occasion. The climax, wisely ordered, was our tribute of gratitude to the United States, and never did the "Battle-hymn of the Republic" sound its trumpets more exultingly. For once, the word "Ritual" might with perfect propriety be separated from its controversial associations, and bestowed on this great act of patriotic pageantry. ”

“ A thousand voices shout, "God save the King!"
When victory follows with our eagle's glance,
Our nation's anthem pipes a country dance!
Some prouder Muse, when comes the hour at last,
May shake our hillsides with her bugle-blast;
Not ours the task; but since the lyric dress
Relieves the statelier with its sprightliness,
Hear an old song, which some, perchance, have seen
In stale gazette or cobwebbed magazine. ”

“ Gloom in Libby Prison, July 6, 1863—The victory of Gettysburg—Chaplain McCabe sings “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord”—Five hundred voices take up the chorus—The “Battle Hymn” at the national capital—The great throng shout, sing, and weep—Abraham Lincoln listens with a strange glory on his face—The army takes up the song.
“THE Battle Hymn of the Republic” was inspired by the tremendous issues of the war, as they were brought vividly to the poet’s mind by the sight of the Union Army. ”

“ America is a nation whose goddess of Liberty was foreign born, baptized in blood, then sent into exile, where, serene and indifferent, she turns her back on the land of her adoption and looks out to sea, a heartless statue! This is a country without a language of its own, with a national hymn that sings only of New England and is set to stolen music, whose only national dance is the cakewalk and most popular tune a rag-time coon song ”

“ We waited eighty years for our American National Anthem. At last God inspired an illustrious and noble woman to utter in undying verse the thought which we hope is forever to animate the soldier of the Republic. ”

“ We have, indeed, no adequate national anthem, even yet, for neither the words nor the music of The Star-Spangled Banner fully express what we feel while we are trying to sing it, as the Marseillaise, for example, does express the very spirit of revolutionary republicanism. ”

“ In England men write to the Times; in America we write to many papers and we complain [81] endlessly. This would evidently be impossible under a despotic Government, and it sometimes seems as if we indulged too freely in depreciating our own country and its institutions. Yet deep down in the hearts of our people is a love of our native land which flames forth brightly on great occasions. The country which produced the “Battle Hymn” is not lacking in true patriotism. So long as our people use it to express their deepest emotions we need fear no serious treason to the Republic. ”

“ O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Chorus—Oh! say, does the star spangled banner yet wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Oh! thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation;
Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven rescued land,
Praise the Power that made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto, “In God is our trust;”
And the star spangled banner in triumph shall wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave. ”

“ Every patriot must off to the fray! [Repeat.]
The land we love is girt with foes,
The flame of war still fiercer glows;
Come, arouse, then, arouse, then, the trumpet calls,
Every patriot must haste to the fray!
’Tis no time, men, no time, men, for fear or pause,
While the trumpet is calling away! [Repeat.]
The Union’s heart is rent in twain,
’Tis ours to bind its cords again!
’Tis no time, men, no time, men, for fear or pause,
While the trumpet is calling away!
Then, away, men, away, men, to follow our flag,
Wheresoever it leads the way ”

“ In an instant, the thousands of throats join in the sound; the roll of song deepens to a diapason; the solemn, forceful march of the melody is irresistible; all France seems to be joining with prayer and power in her loved anthem. ”

“ For our lives and gold, and our honor, we hold
Like the men of the Revolution!
Crying—“Oh, let the Song of Union be
Strong and deep as the rolling sea!
Deep and strong as the rolling sea!”
Rise, brothers, rise!—let your mingling cries,
Roll out in a grand hosanna!
March, brothers, march! while the stars o’erarch,
We have always our country’s banner!
Crying—“Oh, let the Song of Union be
Strong and deep as the rolling sea!
Deep and strong as the rolling sea!”
[Pg 62] Traitor, Spare that Flag. BY THOMAS MACEVILY.
Air—Woodman, Spare that Tree.
Traitors, spare that flag! ”

“ For comments on the author, Samuel F. Smith, see Hymn 324.
MUSIC. AMERICA is also the tune used with the national anthem of Britain, “God save the king.” The melody is of obscure origin. It has been known in England for several centuries. In Denmark it was used toward the end of the 18th century for a national hymn, “Heil dir dem liebenden,” and in Germany it was widely used in Prussian and other northern states to patriotic words. In earlier days in the United States, the words, “Come Thou Almighty King,” were sung to this tune. The tune has thus nearly come to be an International Anthem. ”

“ As a final effort the conductor called upon every one to join in the National Anthem. Up rose ten thousand or twelve thousand persons, and, as one man, they sang their patriotic verses beneath the blue canopy of heaven. ”

“ In this land of ours, this America, our songs are dedicated to love and romance, the blue of the night, sails in the sunset, and not to might or to a martyrdom to political cause. Our national anthem has martial words, difficult air. But if you want to hear the organ roll give the people its companion—"America . ”

“ So spreading their blankets upon the bunch grass, they brought out the American flag, unfurled it, and with prayer and song dedicated the fair land thence to the Pacific, to God and the Union. It was a prayer and song which after history proved a prophecy; and one in which the actors in this little celebration took so brave a part as to deserve their names enrolled among the nation's royal benefactors. God rules the world, and all history shows that he oftenest leaves the great and strong, and takes the weak and humble to accomplish his grand purposes. ”

“ Falling in with the tune of one of them, now called “America,” and being pleased with its simple and easy movement, I glanced at the German words and, seeing that they were patriotic, instantly felt the impulse to write a patriotic hymn of my own to the same tune. ”

“ To listen to a country and western song is to hear the story of America set to music. It is a story of patriotism and hard work, a story of faith, opportunity, and achievement. Most of all, it is the story of a people whose love of freedom is equalled only by their love of life itself. During Country Music Month, we proudly celebrate this popular musical genre and the many talented composers and performers who bring it to our ears. ”

“ Hats are in the air; the flag has turned; the threatened defeat is about to become a victory. The dying man raised himself to cheer. The trio of homespun musicians are discoursing with all their might that music whose shrill melody is so surcharged with patriotism. ”

“ In all the stirring chapter which records the heroism of the devoted band, clinging to hope in the face of despair, and the undaunted spirit that led their relievers through battle and suffering to the goal, it is a memory of which my countrymen may be justly proud that the honor of our flag was maintained alike in the siege and the rescue, and that stout American hearts have again set high, in fervent emulation with true men of other race and language, the indomitable courage that ever strives for the cause of right and justice. ”

“ Young patriots like Preston teach all of us about our civic duty as Americans. Preston's reverence for those who have served our Nation reminds us why we salute our flag, why we put our hands on our hearts for the pledge of allegiance, and why we proudly stand for the national anthem. ”

“ For so long as the sun in his coming kisses and glorifies that blessed banner, or, sinking, burnishes our mountain tops with crimson gold; so long as yonder waves roll inward to break and die upon the shore; so long as the American heart beats to the transports of a true and lofty patriotism, [710] or man has aspirations of light and liberty; so long as the nation lives; so long as the flag of Washington and Lincoln is in the sky,—even so long will our heroes’ fame survive and be an inspiration to the Union’s sons forever and forever. ”

“ In addition to the hymn "America," the volume contains twelve new patriotic poems by its author, none of which have hitherto been given to the public save on the great occasions when they have been read to delighted multitudes. Among the titles of these poems are "The Pilgrims," "The Flag In Nature," "The Flag an Emblem," "Washington," "Centennial Hymn," "Lexington 1776-1876," "Decoration Day," "The Sleep of the Brave," "Our Young Patriots," "Abraham Lincoln," "The Boys," "My Native Land." ”

“ How is it, then, that out of the hard soil of the Puritan thought and character, out of the sterile rocks of the New England conscience, have sprung flowers of poetry? From those songless beginnings have burst, in later generations, melodies that charm and uplift our land—now a deep organ peal filling the air with music, now a trumpet blast thrilling the blood of patriotism, now a drum-beat to which duty delights to march, now a joyous fantasy of the violin bringing smiles to the lips, now the soft vibrations of the harp that fill the eyes with tears. ”

“ Grant White has told us how national hymns are written and not written, and it is a fact that nearly all which have not grown among the people, have resulted from the glow of patriotism in the hearts of citizen-laymen, with whom love of country was a compelling inspiration. ”

“ The French national hymn appeals to us by its wonderfully stirring music more than by the words. We can imagine how the latter aroused to a frenzy of feeling the men of the French Revolution, when they rose to throw off the yoke of centuries of oppression and misrule. Feudalism perished in France to the fiery music of the “Marseillaise.” Slavery died in America to the old “John Brown” tune, as slow and steadfast in movement as the Northern race who sang it.
[98] In our war lyric we seem to hear an echo of the old cry, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon.” ”

“ It is a proud banner, which stands the whole world over for freedom and right, with few stains of defeat or injustice upon its folds. The great heart of the nation swelled with pride at the righteousness of the cause, with an assurance that eternal history would praise America for the unselfish work. On land and sea the boys in blue gave new fame to the flag, and their proud record in the past was more than justified by the honors that they won. ”

“ He stood high and far in the front and proclaimed to all the world the spirit and the purpose of the young men of his country—the men young in heart and living and thinking in the atmosphere and light of to-day. He proclaimed it so well that the measured music of his words was heard above the clamoring of hate and penetrated the dullness of indifferent ears, moving the hearts of the people to unity and stimulating the manhood of the country 535to shake from it factional and sectional rage and consecrate itself to a common patriotism, a single love for a great Republic. ”