Tuesday, May 26, 2015

1846 – Cambridge – 1896



O, Cambridge, the fairest of cities thou art,
The joy of each bosom, the joy of each heart;
We draw to thee now, we offer our all,
The rich and the poor, the great and the small;
All loving, all praising, all swelling with pride,
All counting it honor to stand by thy side,
All proud of the two score and ten, thou hast been
A city of peace and good will to “all men”.

“Two score and ten,” old and yet thou art young;
To progress and knowledge thou ever hast clung.
Old in thy wisdom, yet young in thy deeds,
Advancing with firmness to meet thy great needs.
Birthplace of noblemen, scholars and seers,
The hearthstone of poets and patriots and peers;
O city of cities, cans’t thou but be proud,
As thou gazest to-day on this worshipping crowd?

O Cambridge, ‘tis thou, who art set on a hill;
‘Tus thou who shalt surely the prophesy fill.
United in government, in church and in state,
All working for God, and a high civic rate.
May nothing disturb the smooth run of thy course,
May naught ever check one wit of thy force;
God grant thou’lt grow nearer and dearer each year,
And nothing upset our great “Cambridge Idea”.

Behold emblazoned through the night,
     Upon the city’s tower,
Those magic words of lurid light,
     And strong majestic power.

Our “Fifty Years A City” with
     The bunting gay below;
Enhancing through the summer haze
     The bright electric glow.

Our “Forty Six” and “Ninety Six”
     Spreading the story far;
To call the gaze of multitudes
     Where gladsome people are.

Awake, awake ye Cambridge sons,
     Do justice to your town;
Illuminate and decorate
     Your fond old parent crown.

Make this glad day of “Ninety Six”
     A mighty jubilee;
And cause your city’s name to ring
     Down through eternity.



May 26, 1896
Pub. in B. Sunday Post,
  May 31, 1896

Cambridge Fifty Years A City, 1846-1896; an account of the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, June 2-3, 1896
by Davis, Walter Gee, ed


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