"Call to Kanzas" (1855)

BY LUCY LARCOM

YEOMEN strong, hither throng! Nature’s honest men, We will make the wilderness Bud and bloom again. Bring the sickle, speed the plough, Turn the ready soil!

Freedom is the noblest pay For the true man’s toil. Ho! brothers! come, brothers! Hasten all with me, We’ll sing upon the Kanzas plains A song of Liberty!

Father, haste! o’er the waste Lies a pleasant land, There your fire-side altar stones Fixed in truth shall stand. There your sons, brave and good, Shall to freemen grow, Clad in triple mail of Right, Wrong to overthrow. Ho! brothers! come, brothers! Hasten all with me, We’ll stag upon the Kanzas plains A song of Liberty.

Mother, come! here’s a home In the waiting West. Bring the seeds of love and peace You who sow them best. Faithful hearts, holy prayers, Keep from taint the air, Soil a mother’s tears have wet, Golden crops shall bear. Come, mother! fond mother, List! we call to thee, We’ll sing upon the Kanzas plains, A song of Liberty.

Brother brave, stem the wave! Firm the prairies tread! Up the dark Missouri flood Be your canvas spread. Sister true, join us too Where the Kanzas flows.

Let the Northern lily bloom With the Southern rose. Brave brother, true sister, List! we call to thee, We’ll sing upon the Kanzas plains, A song of Liberty.

One and all, hear our call Echo through the land! Aid us with the willing heart And the strong right hand! Feed the spark, the Pilgrims struck On old Plymouth Rock! To the watch-fires of the free Millions glad shall flock. Ho! brothers! come, brothers! Hasten all with me, We’ll stag upon the Kanzas plains, A song of Liberty.

Lucy Larcom, (published in one sheet by the New England Emigrant Aid Company, [Boston, 1855]).