 | At Sunset |  |
130
A NEW FLAG
We'll have a new flag, my brothers—we'll have a new flag, my boys!
Since swords have been ground to ploughshares, and trumpets are turned to toys;
We have had enough of the red stripe, the planet of war is set,
And in the blue empyrean, the white steeds of peace are met.
Since swords have been ground to ploughshares, and trumpets are turned to toys;
We have had enough of the red stripe, the planet of war is set,
And in the blue empyrean, the white steeds of peace are met.
Their reins are of starry silver, their hoofs are of virgin gold,
They carry our fates behind them, in a master's steady hold;
The armies of retribution strode heavily to the sea,
But the message of consolation shall winged and wafted be.
They carry our fates behind them, in a master's steady hold;
The armies of retribution strode heavily to the sea,
But the message of consolation shall winged and wafted be.
We'll have the Christ on our banner, the hero of truth and toil;
Not a miser meting his treasure, not a victor counting his spoil;
The Christ that to lords and peasants sent equal command and call,
Who throned in the skiff or palace, Hope's master and Sorrow's thrall.
Not a miser meting his treasure, not a victor counting his spoil;
The Christ that to lords and peasants sent equal command and call,
131
We'll measure the fields together where Labor was maimed and dumb;
Where shadows wrought in the furrows, whose sunshine at last has come.
Where the sense of the nation slumbered, in spiritless sloth and shame,
Till with flashing of arms and torches, the terrible bridegroom came.
Where shadows wrought in the furrows, whose sunshine at last has come.
Where the sense of the nation slumbered, in spiritless sloth and shame,
Till with flashing of arms and torches, the terrible bridegroom came.
The forum shall stand for justice, and the temples shall stand for prayer
Whose answer the arm may hasten, not cast on the viewless air;
Not crowded to distant heaven the humble and poor shall wait;
For heaven shall be seen among us, the happy, immortal state.
Whose answer the arm may hasten, not cast on the viewless air;
Not crowded to distant heaven the humble and poor shall wait;
For heaven shall be seen among us, the happy, immortal state.
And we'll build the gladsome schoolhouse, where small angels unawares
Are trained at the desk of duty, or seated on studious chairs,
And sowing that seed most sacred, in the young and teeming ground,
We shall look for a precious harvest, a nation redeemed and sound;
Are trained at the desk of duty, or seated on studious chairs,
And sowing that seed most sacred, in the young and teeming ground,
We shall look for a precious harvest, a nation redeemed and sound;
132
We'll straiten the yoke of duty, and doctrine make one for all;
Each may hope for and do his utmost, by his own worth stand or fall;
We'll not lift men for their features, nor lower them for their skin;
But look to the great soul-Father, in whom we are all of kin.
Each may hope for and do his utmost, by his own worth stand or fall;
We'll not lift men for their features, nor lower them for their skin;
But look to the great soul-Father, in whom we are all of kin.
And why do we strive for riches, since all are in Thine possessed?
And why are we mad for honors, when true service honors best?
And why should we build up limits, dividing the land's fair face?
They are one—her brow and her bosom! They are one, her growth and her grace.
And why are we mad for honors, when true service honors best?
And why should we build up limits, dividing the land's fair face?
They are one—her brow and her bosom! They are one, her growth and her grace.
So we'll have a new flag, my brothers! our stripes, we have felt them all;
Our stars in the dusk of battle did mournfully pale and fall;
Let us yield our claims and our quarrels for a compact of priceless worth;
For the peace that Christ found in heaven, the peace that he left on earth.
Our stars in the dusk of battle did mournfully pale and fall;
Let us yield our claims and our quarrels for a compact of priceless worth;
For the peace that Christ found in heaven, the peace that he left on earth.
| At Sunset | |