CANTO THIRD. I. Of all the knights of England, The boldest and the truest heart Was that of brave Sir John. 12 He had pass'd through perils on the land, And perils on the sea, And oftentimes confronted death In Gaul and Germany; And many a Transylvanian Could point to the spot and show Where the boldest of the Turkish knights Were by his hand laid low. And when confined in dungeons, Or driven as a slave, The rescue that his own arm brought, Proved well Sir John was brave. But now he was a pioneer In a new world's solitude; The first to tread his pathless way Like fiends look'd fierce and grim, But they stirr'd not the blood of brave Sir John, For nothing daunted him. To plant a British colony He had cross'd the wide, wide sea, And found thy future heritage, Now, infant Jamestown, smiled the morn, Young hope was hovering o'er thy groves And on it a mighty empire shone, The glory of the world. And fancy saw the wilderness Like magic melt away, And tender blossoms of the earth Spring to the light of day; And streams, that through the solemn wood Their ancient courses run, Felt the fresh breath of mountain airs, And brighten'd in the sun; And far along the ocean shore And blossom'd as the rose. II. Now crack'd the woodman's axe full loud, Tall trees, that waved like fields of grain, And openings spread, and fields were clear'd, A picket fort by the river side The battle-axe and bow defied; And the mingled hum of the busy throng Echo'd the hills and woods along, And joyous shoutings, wild and free, Rose from the infant colony. III. 14 But Jamestown saw a darker day, And peering out from his covert wood Exulting saw pale-faces fade, And often in the graveyard laid. IV. Why perish thus the exiled band, Where plenty teemeth in the land? For one abides among them there V A gallant barge is on the tide, And stoutly twelve good oars are plied, |