 | Lyrics: By Martin F. Tupper |  |
171
Heart in Office.
Ye Rulers in the Nation, ye Princes of our State,
Who in your starry orbits shine the Great among the great,—
A word unto your mightiness, a word for truth and good,
That may not lightly be ignored, nor harmlessly withstood.
Who in your starry orbits shine the Great among the great,—
A word unto your mightiness, a word for truth and good,
That may not lightly be ignored, nor harmlessly withstood.
We are a kindly People, a just and generous Race,
Slow to condemn, but swift to love, and frank in heart and face;
With honest sense of right and wrong, and wills to love or hate
According to your works and words the Great among the great.
Slow to condemn, but swift to love, and frank in heart and face;
With honest sense of right and wrong, and wills to love or hate
According to your works and words the Great among the great.
173
We honour Duty in high place, nor less because highborn,—
But loathe official insolence, and answer scorn with scorn;
We pay to rank all homage due,—but claim of it in sooth
Humility, and courtesy, and kindliness, and truth.
But loathe official insolence, and answer scorn with scorn;
We pay to rank all homage due,—but claim of it in sooth
Humility, and courtesy, and kindliness, and truth.
To warmth we instantly respond, and render heart for heart,
Rejoicing on the weaker side, and in the better part,—
But frigid harshness dries us up, and half our generous soul
Is frozen by a cold neglect or insolent control!
Rejoicing on the weaker side, and in the better part,—
But frigid harshness dries us up, and half our generous soul
Is frozen by a cold neglect or insolent control!
O Rulers! meet us heartily, as we would come to you;
We own your individual worth as men both good and true,—
But let not Office stand a gulph of icy distance thus
(The Queen and People are not so!) between yourselves and us.
We own your individual worth as men both good and true,—
But let not Office stand a gulph of icy distance thus
(The Queen and People are not so!) between yourselves and us.
174
Quell not our friendliness to you by cold high-breeding's laws,
Check not our English ardour in the patriotic cause;
Be gracious, if you must refuse,—but be not too afraid
Of graciously accepting those who come to proffer aid.
Check not our English ardour in the patriotic cause;
Be gracious, if you must refuse,—but be not too afraid
Of graciously accepting those who come to proffer aid.
Many there be who offer'd well, but ill were spurn'd away,
And many more would, but for such, have help'd from day to day;
But on their generous spirits, like an avalanche of snow
Was flung, with dreary due delay, the cold official No!
And many more would, but for such, have help'd from day to day;
But on their generous spirits, like an avalanche of snow
Was flung, with dreary due delay, the cold official No!
Be wiser, Rulers! we have hearts, and you may have them too;
You might keep England if you would right well in tune with you;
But not by distance, not by coldness; frank and generous ways
Alone can win for you from us all honour, love, andpraise!
You might keep England if you would right well in tune with you;
But not by distance, not by coldness; frank and generous ways
Alone can win for you from us all honour, love, andpraise!
| Lyrics: By Martin F. Tupper | |