The Poetry Corner

Go Forth To The Mount, (Air.--Stevenson.)

By Thomas Moore

Go forth to the Mount; bring the olive-branch home,[1] And rejoice; for the day of ourfreedom is come! From that time,[2] when the moon upon Ajalon's vale, Looking motionless down,[3] saw the kings of the earth, In the presence of God's mighty champion grow pale-- Oh, never had Judah an hour of such mirth! Go forth to the Mount--bring the olive-branch home, And rejoice, for the day of our freedom is come! Bring myrtle and palm--bring the boughs of each tree That's worthy to wave o'er the tents of the Free.[4] From that day when the footsteps of Israel shone With a light not their own, thro' the Jordan's deep tide, Whose waters shrunk back as the ark glided on[5]-- Oh, never had Judah an hour of such pride! Go forth to the Mount--bring the olive-branch home, And rejoice, for the day of our Freedom is come!