I shake as fear grows
And feel my heart thump.
I’ve heard the decrees—
They’re rules everyone knows.
To break the decree
Likely means death.
Yet I see no way out
Of the problem before me.
To obey my calling
And save those in need
I must disobey the rule
And risk ev’rything.
Must I obey?
Must I do it?
Can’t I refuse
And just turn away?
I fear the punishment,
I fear for my life.
Why on this errand
Am I now sent?
We are a people of
A strange and wondrous kind.
A similar group of folks
You’ll never, ever find.
We lived in a valley
Of beauty and pleasure.
There was great peace and joy
Upon all who lived there.
The lush land was more fine
Than any ever seen;
The waters laughed and played
In that valley of green.
Our people worked and lived
In our homely valley,
‘Round a lake of water
And its one, ancient tree.
Gentlemen, we are fighting a war. A war that calls us to liberty. A war that calls us to fight against our captors. A war that calls us to regain what we have lost. Our homes; our families; our freedom. You have answered that call. We have fought battles. We have won. Now, when we have no chance of winning, we will not surrender!
They will fight brutally. They will come at us like dogs. We will look straight into their canons; we will stare up their guns; we will hear the clash of steel against steel, feel the blade at our throats—and we will fight on!
On the table a candle was set, flickering and dancing. The flame gave forth enough light to see the faces around the table. I sat next to a man who was young and had appearance like myself, Will, by name. Across from him was another man, John, who was tall, bearded, with merry eyes. He held his hand to his forehead with his elbow resting on the table. And directly in front of me was a man with scarlet hair, Martin. His lips were pinched in frustration, as he leant back in his chair with his cloak tightly wrapped about him. Such was Martin’s disposition.
In a small town there is a street
Where the chapel and the forest trees meet
And on this street there lives a girl
Who has given all she once prized for a pearl
It is pure, white, and perfect, set in a ring
Radiance, life, light, and joy does it bring
But when outsiders appear, the girl covers her hand
She will not share her treasure with the land.
What will her gravestone say?
On a sun-bathed cliff, under sky, over sea
There is a boy who knows he is free
To a people who cannot comprehend his choice
'Another year has passed us by,'
say the old and weary
while the young and starry-eyed
see a bright new future nearing
'Times of trouble 'round the bend'
but we see a hopeful light,
this can't be very end
we see with a different sight
Out on the horizon,
glowing like the great warm sun
not setting-- it's rising
and toward it we will run and run
Meeting our fate head on,
brave, and bold, and true
and young and strong and wise beyond
our years-- that's me and you
It was the date April eighteen, the year seventeen seventy-five,
And so t’was that important day the minutemen woke at night.
In sleep they were disturbed by the cries of William and Paul
Letting the English army’s presence be known that night to all.
The next morning a small group waited, it was April nineteen,
And the Englishmen were then there to fight and be seen.
They reached the town of Lexington, and the farmers waited
As the sun rose the moon went down, and so slowly faded.