Historical & Legendary Ballads & Songs By Walter Thornbury. Illustrated by J. Whistler, F. Walker, John Tenniel, J. D. Watson, W. Small, F. Sandys, G. J. Pinwell, T. Morten, M. J. Lawless, and many others |
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The Old World and the New.
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 | Historical & Legendary Ballads & Songs |  |
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The Old World and the New.
There's a checkmate universal
In this blind old world of ours,
The earth has lost its vigour,
Men's brains have lost their powers.
In this blind old world of ours,
The earth has lost its vigour,
Men's brains have lost their powers.
Alas! for the young fruits blighted,
And the flowers that cannot bloom!
Alas! for the lack of air and of sun,
Alas! for the lowering gloom.
And the flowers that cannot bloom!
Alas! for the lack of air and of sun,
Alas! for the lowering gloom.
Alas! for the thirsty barrens,
And the moors that yield no corn!
Alas! for the lingering harvests,
And the still-delaying morn!
And the moors that yield no corn!
Alas! for the lingering harvests,
And the still-delaying morn!
By millions starve the beggars
Around the untilled downs,
And the orphans weep in the alleys
Of the rich and sumptuous towns.
Around the untilled downs,
And the orphans weep in the alleys
Of the rich and sumptuous towns.
There's a checkmate universal,
In this deaf old world of ours,
The earth has lost its vigour,
Men's brains have lost their powers.
In this deaf old world of ours,
The earth has lost its vigour,
Men's brains have lost their powers.
Yet I hear an angel crying,
“Away to the Virgin Land,
Away to the boundless prairie,
Fresh from God's shaping hand.”
“Away to the Virgin Land,
Away to the boundless prairie,
Fresh from God's shaping hand.”
And I see the Eastern sunbeams
Point to the broad free West,
And I watch the sea-birds leading
To the golden realms of rest.
Point to the broad free West,
And I watch the sea-birds leading
To the golden realms of rest.
There's a checkmate universal,
In this dumb old world of ours,
The earth has lost its vigour,
Men's brains have lost their powers.
In this dumb old world of ours,
The earth has lost its vigour,
Men's brains have lost their powers.
Yet I know the flowering prairies
Shall soon roll with the ripening grain,
And the merry streams flow lavish
Over the desert plain.
Shall soon roll with the ripening grain,
And the merry streams flow lavish
Over the desert plain.
Break up old types, my brothers,
Pave roads with Pharaoh's bones,
Hew from the pyramids of the Past
The Future's temple stones.
Pave roads with Pharaoh's bones,
Hew from the pyramids of the Past
The Future's temple stones.
| Historical & Legendary Ballads & Songs | |