Fair Harvard

Fair Harvard! we join in thy Jubilee throng,
And with blessings surrender thee o'er
By these festival rites, from the age that is past,
To the age that is waiting before.
O relic and type of our ancestors' worth
That hast long kept their memory warm,
First flow'r of their wilderness! Star of their night!
Calm rising thro' change and thro' storm.

To thy bow'rs we were led in the bloom of our youth,
From the home of our infantile years,
When our fathers had warn'd, and our mothers had pray'd,
And our sisters had blest thro' their tears.
Thou then wert our parent, the nurse of our soul;
We were molded to manhood by thee,
Till freighted with treasure thoughts, friendships and hopes,
Thou didst launch us on Destiny's sea.

When as pilgrims we come to revisit thy halls,
To what kindlings the season gives birth!
Thy shades are more soothing, thy sunlight more dear,
Than descend on less privileged earth.
For the good and the great, in their beautiful prime,
Thro' thy precincts have musingly trod,
As they girded their spirits or deepen'd the streams
That make glad the fair city of God.

Farewell! be thy destinies onward and bright!
To thy children the lesson still give,
With freedom to think, and with patience to bear,
And for right ever bravely to live.,
Let not moss-covered error moor thee at its side,
As the world on truth's current glides by
Be the herald of light, and the bearer of love,
Till the stars in the firmament die.

Words by Reverend Samuel Gilmore, Class of 1811
     [Revised 1997, 2017]

 Radcliffe, Now We Rise to Greet Thee

Radcliffe, now we rise to greet thee,
Alma Mater, hail to thee!
All our hearts are one in singing
Of our love and loyalty.
We have learn’d to know each other
In thy light, which clearly beams,
Thou hast been a kindly Mother,
Great fulfiller of our dreams.
Radcliffe, now we rise to greet thee,
Alma Mater, hail to thee!

Alma Mater, give thy daughters
Each a spark from Truth's pure flame;
Let them when they leave thy altars
Kindle others in thy name.
For our strength and joy in living,
Love and praise to thee belong;
Thou whose very life is giving,
From thy daughters take a song.
Radcliffe, now we rise to greet thee,
Alma Mater, hail to thee!

Words by Floretta Elmore, Class of 1909
Music by Emily Coolidge, Class of 1908