The Shoemaker

Ho! workers of the old time styled The Gentle Craft of Lcathcr 1 Young brothers of the ancient uild, Stand forth once more together ! Cali out again yotir long array In the olden, merry tnanner ; Once more on gay St. Crispin's day Fling out your blazoned banuer l Jlap, rap 1 upon the well-worn stonc How talló the polishcd hamnier ! Rap, rap ! the measSured sound has grown A quick nnd merry clamor. Now shap e the fiole ; now deitly curl The glossy vamp around it, And ble8s tbc whilc the bright--yed girl Whose gentle fingers bound it ! For you along the Spanish Main A hundred keels are ploughing ; For you the Indian on the plain His lasso-coil is throwing : For you deep glens wilh hemlock dark The woodman's fire is lighting ; For you upon the oak's grey bark. The woodman's axe is smiting. For you from Carolina's pinc The resin gum is stealing, For you the dark-eyed Florcntine Her silken skein is reeüng : For you the dizzy goatherd roams His rugged Alpine ledges ; For you round all her shepherd homes Bloom England's thorny hedges 1 The foremost still by day or night On moatcd mound or heather, Where'er the need of trampled right Brought toiüng men together, Where the free burghers from the wall Defied the mail-clad master, Than yours, at Freedom's trumpet cali, No craftsman rallied faster ! 1et foplings sneer, let fools deride, Ye heed no idle scorner,Free hands and heaits nre still ourpride, 't And duty done, your honor. Ye daré to tmst for honest iame The jury Time empannels. And leave to Truth each noble name Which glorifies your annals. Thy songs, Hans Sach, ar? living yet, In stiong and hearty Germán, And Bloomfield's lay and Giflbrd'fl wit, And th' rare good sense of Shennnn ; Still from his book, a mystic scer, The soul of Behmen tenches, And England's priestcraft shakes to hcar Of Fox's leathern breeches. The Foot is yours ; where'er it falls It treads your weü-wrought leathcr, On cdrthcn floor, in marble halls, On carpet, or on heathcr. Still there the sweetest charm is found Of matron grace or vcstal's, As Ilebe's loot bore nectar round Among the old celestials 1 Rnp. wp ! your stout and bluff brogan, With fooisteps slow and weary, May wander wliere the sky'a b!ue span Shuts down upon the prairie. Your slippers shine on Beauty's foot, By Sarntoga's fountain, Or lcad, like snow-fiakes falling mute, The dance on Catskill mountain l The red brick to the mason's hand, The brown earlh to tiller's ; The shoe in yours shali wealth command Like fairy Cinderilla's 1 As they who tilninned the houschold maid, BelK-ld the ernwn upon her, So all shall sce your toil repaid With hearth and home and honor I Then let the toast br freely quaffed In water cool and briinming : "All honor to the good old Craft, lts merry men and women !" Cali out again your long array In the old time's pleasant manner ; Once more on gny St. Crispin's duy Fling out his blazoned bnnuer 1