THE GREAT STRIFE
WAR AND PROVIDENCE
Above the monster cannon’s roaring thunder,
Above the hailstorm of the musketry,
Above the shrieking shells that burst asunder,
With def’ning crash, man’s strongest masonry:
Above the tumult and the din of battle,
The loud command, the bugles’ egging call,
Above the groans of wounded and the rattle
Of death in thousand throats, above it all—
There is a hand that overrules man’s madness,
And causes ev’n his anger Him to praise,
A hand which from destruction, grief and sadness
Brings better prospects for the struggling race;
The hand of Providence which in all ages
Has shaped the history of human-kind,
And we may read upon its blood-stained pages
The loving purpose of the Father’s mind.
From Europe’s awful carnage, ruin, sorrow,
Caused by a greed insane and pride of Kings,
There will arise a brighter, better morrow
With righteousness and healing in its wings.
A day of freedom when the thrones must tumble,
A day when nations shall cast off the yoke,
When none shall batten on the poor and humble,
And untruth walk about in priestly cloak.
When Celt and Teuton, Slav and Anglo-Saxon,
Shall wisdom learn from this their plunge in gore,
And cease to spend their strength in paying tax on
Their daily bread for implements of war;
When they shall dwell in harmony as brothers,
Which is the true foundation of the world,
When good of one is good of all the others,
Then will His Kingdom’s banner be unfurled.
THE YELLOW PERIL
Written after having heard the Hon. Duncan McKinley’s lecture on “The Japanese in America.”
Whene’er the races of the East
Shall rise like floods in melting-time,
With fury of the hungry beast;
And homeless in their native clime
Shall shelter seek in this great land;
Woe then to us, if unprepared
We are the influx to withstand;
Remember Rome, and how she fared!
Her wealth and vineyards did allure
The Goth, the Vandal and the Hun,
Their hordes swooped down, while quite secure
She dwelt beneath her summer-sun;
Proud of her past and opulent
She scorned the wild advancing foe,
But found full soon her legions spent
In warding off the fatal blow.