{
 "id": "mary-weston-fordham/chicago-exposition-ode",
 "title": "Chicago Exposition Ode",
 "ordinal": null,
 "subtitle": null,
 "poet": "Mary Weston Fordham",
 "poet_slug": "mary-weston-fordham",
 "language": "en",
 "book": "Magnolia Leaves",
 "book_slug": "magnolia-leaves",
 "book_kind": "volume",
 "sequence": 11,
 "container": null,
 "epigraph": null,
 "first_published": {
  "year": 1897,
  "venue": "Magnolia Leaves (1897)",
  "note": "First located printing is this volume; an earlier periodical printing has not been established.",
  "uncertain": false,
  "sources": [
   "https://archive.org/details/magnolialeavespo00ford"
  ]
 },
 "source": {
  "kind": "standard-ebooks",
  "repo": "standardebooks/mary-weston-fordham_magnolia-leaves",
  "file": "magnolia-leaves.xhtml",
  "upstream": [
   "https://scalar.lehigh.edu/african-american-poetry-a-digital-anthology/mary-weston-fordham-magnolia-leaves-full-text-1897-preface-by-booker-t-washington",
   "https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006775637"
  ],
  "rights": "public domain (SE dedication; underlying text pre-1931)"
 },
 "verification": {
  "level": "structural-only",
  "last_checked": "2026-08-20"
 },
 "stats": {
  "n_lines": 56,
  "n_stanzas": 7,
  "n_parts": 0,
  "longest_line_chars": 48,
  "max_indent": 1
 },
 "site_ready": true,
 "parts": [],
 "stanzas": [
  [
   {
    "text": "Columbia, all hail!",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "May thy banner ne’er be furled",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Till Liberty, with her beauteous rays,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Enlighten all the world.",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Columbia, to thee",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "From every clime we come,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "To lay our trophies at thy feet⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Our sunbright, glorious home.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "’Twas a lovely autumn morn,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the leaves were turning red,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "And the sturdy oaks and graceful pines",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Their branches overspread;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "And the breezes softly swept",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The hills and valleys o’er;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "And the dew-kissed earth with incense sweet,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Crowned forest, grove and flower.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "On a grassy knoll near by",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Where the rustling leaves were piled,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Knelt a mighty chief of a mighty tribe,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And his band of warriors wild.",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "For the rising sun had shown",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "To the trained eyes of that band,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "That vessels three, like white-winged birds,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Were steering straight for land.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Whence comes this stranger fleet?",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Whence hails this Pale Face crew?",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "And the chieftain’s brow was wrapped in pain",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "As his tomahawk he drew.",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Then, with quivering voice, he said",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Some evil may betide;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "From the land of the sky this host has come⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Let’s haste to the river side.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "And the warriors started forth",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Like fawns through the forest trees;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "When lo! what a wondrous, solemn sight⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "“Pale Faces” on their knees!",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Before the Holy Cross,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Each with uncovered brow,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Prayed the mighty God, that His blessings e’er",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Might this fair land endow.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "And the stalwart braves⁠—awe-struck⁠—,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "With heads bowed low on breast",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "As the veteran sailor proudly cried",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "San Salvador, the blest!",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "And this first, grand solemn act",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Has been chronicled in heaven;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "For, from East to West of this broad, fair land,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Has God’s benison been given.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Then hail! bright, sunny land!",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Home of the free, the brave!",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "From the eastern shores to the western plains,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Let thy banner proudly wave.",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Nations beyond the seas",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Shall worship at thy shrine;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Honor and wealth, and matchless power,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Columbia! be thine.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ]
 ]
}