Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

William McCarty, comp. The American National Song Book. 1842.

The Genius of Ireland

WHEN Liberty’s standard Columbia raised high,

And with valour astonish’d the world,

The sons of Hibernia loud shouted for joy,

And the ensigns of Freedom unfurl’d;

The wish of each heart was, “Columbia be free!

Let tyrants ne’er sully thy fame!

May thy sons ever joy under Liberty’s tree,

And all mankind still honour thy name.”

Each heart beat to arms, and the volunteer corps

Heard the sound, and appear’d on parade;

Such a sight Ireland’s genius ne’er witness’d before,

And yet still on her harp thus she play’d:

“The wish of each heart is, Columbia be free!

Let tyrants ne’er sully thy fame!

May thy sons ever joy under Liberty’s tree,

And all mankind still honour thy name.”

The silver-toned instrument peal’d such a choir,

That old ocean leap’d back with surprise!

The rocks roll’d it high from the far sounding shore,

And the echo shrill enter’d the skies.

Enraptured, the angels re-echo’d the strain,

“Columbia shall ever be free!

The world enfranchis’d shall honour thy name,

And thy sons nourish Liberty’s tree.”

The genius sang on: “See my sons o’er the waves,

Raise their ensigns, never to yield!

They’ve vow’d that Columbians ne’er shall be slaves,

While there’s one man alive in the field;

It thrills through my heart, great Columbia is free!

My sons shall ne’er sully thy fame:

In their blood they have planted the Liberty tree,

With their blood they will nourish the same.”