“Hearts of Oak,” Pioneer Day Poem

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"HEARTS OF OAK."

BY SARAH E. PEARSON. There's a theme, a stirring story from the annals of the past; There's a record sheds a glory with a lustre born to last; There's a banner floats triumphant just beneath Old Glory's wave Which commemorates the advent of the wise, and true, and brave. There are aged men and matrons whom our heart of hearts revere, Whose valor wins our sympathy, whose struggles force a tear. Do you ask why Utah's patriot sons wake echoes with their cheers? Tis in honor of those valient ones, the noble Pioneers.

As the Pilgrim Fathers wandered o'er the surging, pathless deep. Where the mystic waters thundered round their barks with angry sweep, Calmly braving unknown perils, God-wrought destiny to fill. Trusting Him whose voice commanded to the waters, "Hist! be still," So these modern Pilgrim Fathers set their faces toward the west Slowly toiled o'er trackless prairies to the promised land of rest; Braved the terrors of the desert, fierce wild beasts and savage men, Swam the rivers, stemmed the torrents rushing down the mountain glen;

Thinned by sickness, worn by hunger, clad in rags and spent with toil. Hoping still to find a refuge on Columbia's sacred soil. Hark! the trumpet calls to duty, and the flower of the band March to plant Columbia's standard on the borders of our land. With a hurried tearful blessing on the heads of womankind, Aged sires and little children, whom, perforce, they leave behind In the middle of the desert, in the howling wilderness, In the hands of Him who watches tenderly the fatherless. Where the bleak, majestic Rockies rear their pinnacles and crests; Where the eagle in his eyrie builds his savage mate a nest; Where perennial snows gleam whitely at the base of frowning cliflfs And gaunt, hungry wolves howl nightly from their caverns, cairns, and rifts; In the wild and rugged grandeur of the pathless mountain steeps, Toil they on in hope and courage with a faith that never sleeps. Summer suns beat fierce upon them, wintry blasts around them blow, Bruised and wounded feet leave imprints of their blood upon the snow,

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698 IMPROVEMENT ERA.

Wayside graves strewn thick behind them mark the thorny path they trod; Yet their venerated Leader counsels patient trust in God. Lo! from Emigration's summits spreads a panorama grand Tired eyes with rapture kindle as they view the promised land, Glist'ning lake, and mountain brooklet sparkling onward clear and cold. Broad and level valleys covered with a dress of grey and gold. Briar-roses, reeds, and rushes mark the spot where water lies, Sego lilies, crimson-hearted lift their waxen chalices; Circling mountains, softly purple, pierce the overhanging blue Truly "distance lent enchantment" to this most entrancing view. Sagebrush, greasewood, squawbush meet them, snakes and lizards too, perchance. Myriad crickets rise to greet them as they make their first advance; Virgin soil for centuries hardened, baked and seamed 'neath storm and sun. Bode a siege against starvation, toils and trials just begun. All the native pluck and courage of their Puritan descent Need they now to stem the tidewave of a deadly discontent. All the virtues that distinguish bravest sons of Freedom's nation, Need they now to win existence mid this desert desolation. All the prescient grace and wisdom, patient fortitude and faith. Need they now to fight the battle, and to fail means certain death. Did they fail? ask hundred thousand hardy sons of patient toil Who now yearly gain subsistence from our mines, and mills and soil; View the smiling fields of plenty, homes of luxury and taste Who first made the desert blossom, who subdued the dreary waste? Fed and taught the savage natives, built the churches, schools and homes, Raised the glorious flag of freedom over Utah's highest domes? Did they fail? behold your answer in this demonstration gay; Fifty years of noble effort culminates in this display. Hail! to Utah and her founders — let the joyous anthems rise In a song of praise triumphant, paeans reaching to the skies; Hail to Utah's institutions, to her glorious commonwealth; To her peaceful valleys teeming, full of happiness and health. Hail, all hail to Freedom's banner, under whose protecting name, The oppressed of every nation common brotherhood may claim. May its glory long wave o'er us, may God's blessing go before us, Rise and swell the thrilling chorus home and freedom in His name.