"God Save Our Noble Union"
The Staunton Spectator was a Whig newspaper that opposed Virginia's secession from the Union. Despite their state's subsequent status as the seat of the Confederacy, Virginians, like many residents of the Upper South, remained divided over the issue of secession in the months after South Carolina and the other states of the Deep South declared the formation of the Confederate States of America. In the 1861 election, in which Lincoln was elected President, Virginia's electoral votes had gone to John Bell of the Constitutional Union Party, which opposed secession. This poem, published in the Spectator on January 22, 1861, sings the praises of the "noble Union" and ardently urges that it be preserved, despite the "signs of coming storms."
God Save Our Noble Union
It came to us in darkness
It came to us through blood;
It shone out like the "Promise
Of God" upon the flood.
A Beacon--it has served us
With true, unerring flame,
And cast a blaze of glory
Upon our nation's name!
God save our noble Union!
'Twas left us by our fathers,
Those souls of priceless worth--
The noblest types of manhood
That ever walked the earth.
'Twas bought with fearful struggles,
By sacrifice sublime,
And stands a proud momento
For all the coming time--
God save the noble Union!
Our land a waste of nature,
Where beast and savage strayed;
Its wealth of lakes and rivers
Unlocked by keys of trade;
Then sunlike rose the Union--
A terror to our foes--
And lo! this "waste of nature"
Now "blossoms as the rose!"
God save our noble Union!
Where earth lay hid for ages
In deep primeval gloom,
Behold a boundless garden--
A continent in bloom!
With iron bands of railroads,
Electric tongues of wire,
And energies within us
Which time shall never tire--
God save the noble Union!
But now upon our heaven
Are signs of coming storms;
And dark unholy passions
Unfold their hideous forms.
The bravest hearts among us
Are filled with doubt and fear;
While sounds of horrid discord
Are grating on our ear--
God save the noble Union!
The hallowed flag that bore us
So proudly through the wars--
Is there a hand would sever
Its sisterhood of stars!
Great God! can we so blindly
Cast all Thy gifts away?
Or throbs there in this nation
One heart that will not pray--
God save our noble Union!
Creator | The Staunton Spectator
Item Type | Fiction/Poetry
Cite This document | The Staunton Spectator, “"God Save Our Noble Union",” SHEC: Resources for Teachers, accessed December 5, 2023, https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/755.
