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Hail, Freedom! thy bright crest
And gleaming shield, thrice blest
Mirror the glories of a world thine own.
Hail, heaven-born peace! Our sight,
Led by they gentle light,
Shows us the paths with deathless flowers strewn.
Peace, daughter of a strife,
Abide with us till strife be lost in endless time.
Honor the few who shared
Freedom's first fight, and dared
To face war's desperate tide at full flood;
Who fell on hard won ground,
And into Freedom's round
Poured the sweet balsam of their brave heart's blood.
They fell, but o'er that glorious grave
Floats free the banner of the cause they died to save.
Father, Whose mighty power
Shields us through life's short hour,
To Thee we pray: Bless us and keep us free;
All that is past forgive;
Teach us henceforth to live
That, through our country we may honor Thee;
And when this mortal life shall cease,
Take thou, at last, our souls to Thine eternal peace.
- Francis Marion Crawford
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