To Columbia

SONG To the Tune of the Anacreontic

I.
1 To Columbia, who, gladly reclin’d at her ease,
2 On Atlantic’s broad bosom lay smiling in peace;
3 Minerva flew hastily, sent from above,
4 And addres’d her this message from thundering Jove:
5 “Rouse, quickly awake,
6 For your freedom’s at stake,
7 Storms arise your renown’d independence to shake;
8 Then lose not a moment, my aid I will lend,
9 If your sons will assemble your rights to defend.”
II.
10 Rous’d, Columbia rose up, and indignant, declar’d,
11 That no nation she’d wrong’d & no nation she fear’d;
12 That she wish’d not for war, but if war was her fate,
13 She would meet it with souls, independent and great:
14 Then tell mighty Jove,
15 That we quickly will prove,
16 We’ll deserve the protection he’ll send from above.
17 For ne’er shall the sons of America bend,
18 But united, their rights and their freedom defend.
III.
19 Minerva smil’d cheerfully as she withdrew,
20 Enraptur'd to find her Americans true;
21 “For,” said she “our sly Mercury ofttimes reports
22 That your sons are divided” — Columbia retorts,
23 Tell that vile God of Thieves,
24 His report but deceives,
25 And we care not what madman such nonsense believes
26 For ne’er shall the sons of America bend,
27 But, united, their rights and their freedom defend.
IV.
28 Jove rejoic’d in Columbians this union to see,
29 And swore by old Styx, she deserv’d to be free,
30 Then assembled the Gods, and to all gave consent,
31 Their assistance if needful in war to present;
32 Mars arose, shook his armour,
33 And swore, his old farmer
34 Should ne’er in his country see aught that couldharm her;
35 For ne’er should the Sons of America bend,
36 But, united, their rights and their freedom defend.
V.
37 Minerva resolv’d that her Aegis she’d lend;
38 And Apollo declared he their cause would befriend;
39 Old Vulcan an armour would forge for their aid,
40 More firm than the one for Achilles he made;
41 Then said he I’ll prepare
42 A compound most rare,
43 Of courage and union, each a full share;
44 Then ne’er shall the sons of America bend,
45 But their rights and their freedom most firmly defend.
VI.
46 Ye sons of Columbia, then join hand in hand,
47 Divided we fall, but united we stand;
48 ’Tis ours to determine, ’tis ours to decree,
49 That in peace we will live independent and free,
50 And should from afar,
51 Break the horrors of war,
52 We’ll always be ready at once to declare,
53 That ne’er will the sons of America bend;
54 But united their rights and their freedom defend.

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Title (in Source Edition): To Columbia SONG To the Tune of the Anacreontic
Author: Thomas Paine
Themes:
Genres: song
Headnote: Gazette of the United States, 9 June 1798

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Source edition

Cleary, Scott M., ed. Claeys, Gregory, gen. ed. Thomas Paine Collected Writings. Vol. II. Part 2: Poetry. Princeton: Princeton UP, 2026. 5 Volumes.

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