John Greenleaf Whittier: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

The Summons

John Greenleaf Whittier

“The Summons” as printed in The Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier (1895).

John Greenleaf Whittier: Collected Lyrics Text 226 1895 · historical text
Public domainBalladAmerican song
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

My ear is full of summer sounds,

Of summer sights my languid eye;

Beyond the dusty village bounds

I loiter in my daily rounds,

And in the noon-time shadows lie.

I hear the wild bee wind his horn,

The bird swings on the ripened wheat,

The long green lances of the corn

Are tilting in the winds of morn,

The locust shrills his song of heat.

Another sound my spirit hears,

A deeper sound that drowns them all;

A voice of pleading choked with tears,

The call of human hopes and fears,

The Macedonian cry to Paul!

The storm-bell rings, the trumpet blows;

I know the word and countersign;

Wherever Freedom’s vanguard goes,

Where stand or fall her friends or foes,

I know the place that should be mine.

Shamed be the hands that idly fold,

And lips that woo the reed’s accord,

When laggard Time the hour has tolled

For true with false and new with old

To fight the battles of the Lord!

O brothers! blest by partial Fate

With power to match the will and deed,

To him your summons comes too late

Who sinks beneath his armor’s weight,

And has no answer but God-speed!

Credits

Written by John Greenleaf Whittier

Words by John Greenleaf Whittier. Historical text published in The Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier (1895); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier (1895), “The Summons”

Every text in this 1895 collected edition is by John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892), who died more than 133 years ago, so the text is in the public domain worldwide; the edition carries a Wikisource PD-old determination.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

View copyright evidence · Transcription terms (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Retrieved 2026-10-27. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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