 | [Take no step backward!, in] Personal and political ballads |  |
367
TAKE NO STEP BACKWARD!
Inscribed to the Thirty-eighth Congress of the United States.
BY W. D. GALLAGHER.
Take no step backward! The eternal ages
Look down upon you from their height sublime,
And witness the events which history's pages
Shall class among the noblest of all time.
Right onward now the path of duty lieth,
Though it may lead to dangers that appal:
“Right onward! onward!” Justice sternly crieth,
And Mercy joins with Justice in the call.
Look down upon you from their height sublime,
And witness the events which history's pages
Shall class among the noblest of all time.
Right onward now the path of duty lieth,
Though it may lead to dangers that appal:
“Right onward! onward!” Justice sternly crieth,
And Mercy joins with Justice in the call.
Take no step backward! Centuries of oppression
Are culminating 'midst our nation's throes
And wrong that might have stood, with fair concession,
Yields to the force of self-inflicted blows.
The hand grown horny in the life-long labor
That clothed and pampered those who held it bound,
Now grasps the gun, or wields the flashing sabre,
And wins and wears its honors on the ground.
Are culminating 'midst our nation's throes
And wrong that might have stood, with fair concession,
Yields to the force of self-inflicted blows.
The hand grown horny in the life-long labor
That clothed and pampered those who held it bound,
Now grasps the gun, or wields the flashing sabre,
And wins and wears its honors on the ground.
368
Take no step backward! Contraband or chattel,
Or slave or “person,” what you will—they're men!
And if we stand or fall in this dread battle,
God leads the bondman from his thrall again.
The pillar of a cloud by day is hazing
The atmosphere where'er the battle lies:
The pillar of a fire by night is blazing
Where conflagration paints yon Southern skies.
Or slave or “person,” what you will—they're men!
And if we stand or fall in this dread battle,
God leads the bondman from his thrall again.
The pillar of a cloud by day is hazing
The atmosphere where'er the battle lies:
The pillar of a fire by night is blazing
Where conflagration paints yon Southern skies.
Take no step backward! Ye have sorely smitten,
At hip and thigh the evil and the wrong;
What ye have said, now verify! what written,
Seal with the seal of action, broad and strong
Be not alarmed at apparitions dire
Of flaming swords that hurtle into view:
The element that purifies is fire:
Pass firmly on and resolutely through.
At hip and thigh the evil and the wrong;
What ye have said, now verify! what written,
Seal with the seal of action, broad and strong
Be not alarmed at apparitions dire
Of flaming swords that hurtle into view:
The element that purifies is fire:
Pass firmly on and resolutely through.
Take no step backward! Ye whom God now uses
To solve the problems of man's destiny,
To rectify his wrongs, right his abuses,
The grand accomplishment ye may not see:
But in the future—in the years of glory
That peace restored shall bring our land again—
Your names shall glitter in the noblest story
That celebrates the deeds of noblest men.
To solve the problems of man's destiny,
To rectify his wrongs, right his abuses,
The grand accomplishment ye may not see:
But in the future—in the years of glory
That peace restored shall bring our land again—
Your names shall glitter in the noblest story
That celebrates the deeds of noblest men.
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