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Welcome To The Grand Duke Alexis

By Oliver Wendell Holmes

Topics: classic

Shadowed so long by the storm-cloud of danger,     Thou whom the prayers of an empire defend,     Welcome, thrice welcome! but not as a stranger,     Come to the nation that calls thee its friend!     Bleak are our shores with the blasts of December,     Fettered and chill is the rivulet's flow;     Throbbing and warm are the hearts that remember     Who was our friend when the world was our foe.     Look on the lips that are smiling to greet thee,     See the fresh flowers that a people has strewn     Count them thy sisters and brothers that meet thee;     Guest of the Nation, her heart is thine own!     Fires of the North, in eternal communion,     Blend your broad flashes with evening's bright star!     God bless the Empire that loves the Great Union;     Strength to her people! Long life to the Czar!

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"Shadowed so long by the storm-cloud of danger,..."

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Author:Oliver Wendell Holmes

"Shadowed so long by the storm-cloud of danger,..." by Oliver Wendell Holmes

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Oliver Wendell Holmes

About Oliver Wendell Holmes

Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (1809–1894) was an American poet, physician, and essayist. His poems "Old Ironsides" and "The Chambered Nautilus" are American classics. He was part of the Fireside Poets group.

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