Weathered Flag

Sonnet

For the Semiquincentennial of the Nation

By Joseph Charles MacKenzie

 

Do you feel, O Nation, beneath your feet,

The roll and pitch of that ship on its way

Across the vast unknown, its lift and sway,

Flying onward to freedom, swift and fleet?

 

Can you hear, through that battle’s din, the beat

Of the drums, the tweet of the fife, the neigh

Of horses, the cry of men in the fray

Who won this day by their blood and their sweat?

 

Alas, that some yet thirst for but a taste

Of this pure air, this bright and boundless sky,

This plenteous land with every blessing graced;

 

For, we were forged by those who would not die

In chains, nor see our weathered flag abased—

Hope’s time-worn banner: Ours to raise it high!