322 
THE LANGUAGE OF BIRDS. 
Before the regent of the skies 
Men shrink and veil their dazzled eyes; 
But thou, in regal majesty, 
Hast kingly rank as well as he. 
And with a steady dauntless gaze 
Thou meet^st the splendor of his blaze* 
Bird of Columbia ! well art thou 
An emblem of our native land. 
With unblench'd front and noble brow. 
Among the nations doom'd to stand ; 
Proud, like her mighty mountain woods- 
Like her own rivers, wandering free, 
And sending forth, from hills and floods. 
The joyous shout of liberty ! 
Like thee, majestic bird, like thee, 
She stands in unbought majesty, 
With spreading wing, untired and strong, 
That dares a soaring far and long, 
That mounts aloft, nor looks below, 
And will not quail though tempests blow. 
The admiration of the earth. 
In grand simplicity she stands ; 
