Song for the Camp of Israel – Let Us Go

By Eliza R. Snow

Let us go – let us go to the ends of the earth –
Let us go far away from the land of our birth;
For the banner of “freedom” no longer will wave
O’er the patriots’ tomb – o’er the dust of the brave.

Let us go – let us go from a country of strife –
From a land where the wicked are seeking our life –
From a country where justice no longer remains –
From which virtue is fled and iniquity reigns.

Let us go – let us go from a government where
The just rights of protection we never can share –
Where the spoil we have purchas’d we cannot enjoy
Till the time when “the water goes forth to destroy.”

Let us go – let us go to the wilds for a home,
Where the wolf and the roe and the buffalo roam;
Where the life-inspired “eagle”in “liberty” flies –
Where the mountains of Israel in majesty rise.

Let us go – let us go to a country whose soil
Can be made to produce wine, milk, honey, and oil –
Where beneath our own vines we may sit and enjoy
The rich fruit of our labours, with none to annoy.

Let us go – let us go where our rights are secure –
Where the waters are clear and the atmosphere pure –
Where the hand of oppression has never been felt –
Where the blood of the prophet has never been spilt.

Let us go – let us go where the kingdom of God
Will be seen in its order extending abroad –
Where the Priesthood again will exhibit its worth
In the regeneration of heaven and earth.

Let us go – let us go to the far western shore,
Where the blood-thirsty “christians” will hunt us no more;
Where the waves of the ocean will echo the round,
And the shout of salvation be heard the world round.

(1848)