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6


SAIL ON, O SHIP OF STATE!

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. German Air.

1. Sail on, sail on, O Ship of State! Sail on, sail on!

Sail on, O Union strong and great, Sail on, sail on!
Humanity with all its fears,
With all the hopes of future years,
Is hanging breathless on thy fate! Sail on, O Union, strong and great!

2. Sail on, sail on, O Ship of State! Sail on, sail on!

We know what Master laid thy keel, Sail on, sail on!
What Workman wrought thy ribs of steel, Sail on, sail on!
Who made each mast, and sail, and rope,
What anvils rang, what hammers beat,
In What a forge and what a heat
Were shaped the anchors of thy hope!

3. Sail on, sail on, O Ship of State! Sail on, sail on!

Fear not each sudden sound and shock, Sail on, sail on!
'T is of the wave and not the rock; Sail on, sail on!
'T is but the flapping of the sail,
And not a rent made by the gale!
In spite of rock and tempest's roar, In spite of false lights on the shore,
Sail on, sail on, O Ship of State! Sail on, sail on!
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