The Pilgrim Fathers

Bold men were they, and true, that pilgrim-band,
Who plough'd with venturous prow the stormy sea,
Seeking a home for hunted Liberty
Amid the ancient forests of a land
Wild, gloomy, vast, magnificently grand!
Friends, country, hallow'd homes they left, to be
Pilgrims for Christ's sake, to a foreign strand —
Beset by peril, worn with toil, jet fret.'
Tireless in zeal, devotion, labour, hope;
Constant in faith; in justice how severe!
Though fools deride and bigot-skeptics sneer,
Praise to their names! If call'd like them to cope,
In evil times, with dark and evil powers,
O, be their faith, their zeal, their courage ours!