Virginia Argus

POETRY

THE LOVE OF COUNTRY AND OUR HOME:

is thus beautifully described by Montgomery in his new Poem, "THE WEST INDIES"

THERE is a land of every land the pride,

Beloved of Heaven o'er all the world beside;

Where brighter suns dispense serener light,

And milder moons emparadise the night—

Land! of beauty, virtue, valor, truth,

Time-tutored age, and love-exalted Youth:

The wandering mariner, whose eye explores

The wealthiest isles, the most enchanting shores,

Views not a realm so beautiful and fair,

Nor breathes a spirit of a purer air:

In every clime the magnet of his soul,

Touch'd by remembrance, trembles to that pole:

For in this land of Heaven's peculiar grace,

There is a spot of earth supremely blest,

A dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest,

Where man, creation's tyrant, casts aside

His sword and sceptre, pageantry and pride,

While in his softened looks benignly blend

The sire, the son, the husband, father, friend,

Here woman reigns, the mother, daughter, wife,

Strews with fresh flowers the narrow way of life;

In the clear heaven of her delightful eye,

An angel-guard of loves and graces lie;

Around her knees domestic duties meet,

And fire-side pleasures gambol at her feet.

Where shall that land, that spot of earth be found?

Art thou a man?—a patriot?—look around—

O thou shalt find, howe'er thy Foot-steps roam,

That land thy country, and that spot thy HOME.