 | Jones Very : The Complete Poems |  |
331
What of Our Country?
What of our Country? is the word,
The word from all we meet;
From young and old the question's heard,
At home and in the street.
The word from all we meet;
From young and old the question's heard,
At home and in the street.
What of our Country? War or peace?
The question comes to all;
Shall this our glorious Union cease,
And into fragments fall?
The question comes to all;
Shall this our glorious Union cease,
And into fragments fall?
What of our country? Has the plan
Of God been here achieved?
Have we obtained the rights of Man,
In which our sires believed?
Of God been here achieved?
Have we obtained the rights of Man,
In which our sires believed?
What of our Country? Shall her name,
Glorious in every clime,
Dishonored be? Or grow in fame
Till the last hour of time?
Glorious in every clime,
Dishonored be? Or grow in fame
Till the last hour of time?
In vain we ask, in vain we peer
Into the future dim;
To God alone the vision's clear,
We trust alone in Him!
Into the future dim;
To God alone the vision's clear,
We trust alone in Him!
For us the present only is,
Be strong, be true to-day;
The future, the event is His,
Whom worlds on worlds obey.
Be strong, be true to-day;
The future, the event is His,
Whom worlds on worlds obey.
Poem No. 779; c. 29 January 1861
| Jones Very : The Complete Poems | |