On the Origin of the Pilgrim Church by William Bradford
A poem
On the Origin of the Pilgrim Church by William Bradford
Imprisonments, cruel torments, and bloody deaths—
All these has Satan used against the Saints
In England, as they labored to establish
Right worship, in accordance with the gospel:
The laws of God’s word, purged of men’s inventions.
But persecution only made men martyrs
And watered the Truth’s deepening roots with blood.
The serpent therefore sought out subtler means.
He sowed the seeds of enmity and discord
Among the seemingly-reformed. His agents
Whispered to them, that perfect Reformation
Must wait upon its season; that to keep
The weak and ignorant in Christ’s embrace
Some harmless and familiar ceremonies
Should be retained. And so they persecuted
Their own, their brothers who would not submit
To popish trash, or to the relics of
The man of sin. To cast contempt on these
Sincere servants of God, they injuriously
Imposed on them the name of Puritans.
Religion was disgraced; and in its place
Arose profanity and atheism.
But some the Lord had touched with heavenly zeal:
Our hearts for truth, our eyes not blind to truth,
And we shook off the antichristian yoke,
And as free people bound ourselves together,
By covenant, into a church estate,
To walk in all His ways made known to us,
Whatever it should cost, the Lord assisting.
And that it cost us, history will declare.
See also: American Independence in Verse.