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Undaunted on this base
Guard well thy dwelling-place:
Till the last sun grow pale
Let there be light!

UNMANIFEST DESTINY

RICHARD HOVEY

To what new fates, my country, far
And unforeseen of foe or friend,
Beneath what unexpected star,
Compelled to what unchosen end,

Across the sea that knows no beach
The Admiral of Nations guides
Thy blind obedient keels to reach
The harbor where thy future rides!

The guns that spoke at Lexington

Knew not that God was planning then The trumpet word of Jefferson

To bugle forth the rights of men.

To them that wept and cursed Bull Run, What was it but despair and shame? Who saw behind the cloud the sun?

Who knew that God was in the flame?

Had not defeat upon defeat,
Disaster on disaster come,

The slave's emancipated feet

Had never marched behind the drum.

There is a Hand that bends our deeds
To mightier issues than we planned,
Each son that triumphs, each that bleeds,
My country, serves Its dark command.

I do not know beneath what sky
Nor on what seas shall be thy fate;
I only know it shall be high,

I only know it shall be great.

THE SHIP OF DEMOCRACY

Extract from Thou Mother With Thy Equal Brood

WALT WHITMAN

SAIL, sail thy best, ship of Democracy,

Of value is thy freight, 'tis not the Present only,
The Past is also stored in thee,

Thou holdest not the venture of thyself alone, not of the Western continent alone,

Earth's résumé entire floats on thy keel, O ship, is steadied by thy spars,

With thee Time voyages in trust, the antecedent nations sink or swim with thee,

With all their ancient struggles, martyrs, heroes, epics, wars, thou bear'st the other continents,

Theirs, theirs as much as thine, the destination-port triumphant;

Steer then with good strong hand and wary eye O
helmsman, thou carriest great companions,
Venerable priestly Asia sails this day with thee,
And royal feudal Europe sails with thee.

LAND THAT WE LOVE

Extract from The Great Remembrance

RICHARD WATSON GILDER

LAND that we love! Thou Future of the World!
Thou refuge of the noble heart oppressed!
Oh never be thy shining image hurled
From its high place in the adoring breast
Of him who worships thee with jealous love!
Keep thou thy starry forehead as the dove
All white, and to the eternal Dawn inclined!
Thou art not for thyself but for mankind,
And to despair of thee were to despair
Of man, of man's high destiny, of God!
Of thee should man despair, the journey trod
Upward, through unknown eons, stair on stair,
By this our race, with bleeding feet and slow,
Were but the pathway to a darker woe
Than yet was visioned by the heavy heart
Of prophet. To despair of thee! Ah no!

For thou thyself art Hope, Hope of the World thou art!

AD PATRIAM

CLINTON SCOLLARD

To deities of gauds and gold,

Land of our Fathers, do not bow! But unto those beloved of old

Bend thou the brow!

Austere they were of front and form;
Rigid as iron in their aim;

Yet in them pulsed a blood as warm
And pure as flame;

Honor, whose foster-child is Truth;
Unselfishness in place and plan;
Justice, with melting heart of ruth;
And Faith in man.

Give these thy worship; then no fears
Of future foes need fright thy soul;
Triumphant thou shalt mount the years
Toward thy high goal!

AMERICA

Extract from The Centennial Cantata
SIDNEY LANIER

Now Praise to God's oft-granted grace,
Now Praise to Man's undaunted face,
Despite the land, despite the sea,

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How long, Good Angel, O how long?
Sing me from Heaven a man's own song!

"Long as thine Art shall love true love,
Long as thy Science truth shall know,
Long as thine Eagle harms no Dove,
Long as thy Law by law shall grow,
Long as thy God is God above,
Thy brother every man below,

So long, dear Land of all my love,

Thy name shall shine, thy fame shall glow!

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COLUMBIA

Finale of The Columbian Ode

HARRIET MONROE

COLUMBIA, my country, dost thou hear?

Ah! dost thou hear the songs unheard of Time? Hark! for their passion trembles at thine ear.

Hush! for thy soul must heed their call sublime. Across wide seas, unswept by earthly sails,

Those strange sounds draw thee on, for thou shalt be Leader of nations through the autumnal gales

That wait to mock the strong and wreck the free. Dearer, more radiant than of yore,

Against the dark I see thee rise;

Thy young smile spurns the guarded shore
And braves the shadowed, ominous skies.

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