XV.
Far apart— Each alone like a lonely heart— Sat the Nations, until his hand Wove about them a wondrous band; Wrought about them a mighty chain Binding the mountains to the main! Distance and time rose dark between Islands and continents still unseen, While apart None felt the throb of another’s heart.
XVI.
But to-day Time and space hath he swept away! Side by side do the Nations sit By ties of brotherhood closer knit; Whispers float o’er the rolling deep; Voices echo from steep to steep; Nations speak, and the quick replies Fill the earth and the vaulted skies; For to-day Time and distance are swept away.
XVII.
If strange thrills Quicken Rome on her seven hills; If afar on her sultry throne India wails and makes her moan; If the eagles of haughty France Fall as the Prussian hosts advance, All the continents, all the lands, Feel the shock through their claspèd hands. And quick thrills Stir the remotest vales and hills.
XVIII.
Yet these eyes, Dark on whose lids Death’s shadow lies, Let their far-reaching vision rest Not alone on the mountain’s crest; Nor did these feet with stately tread Follow alone where the Nations led; Nor these pale hands, so weary-worn, Minister but where States were born!— These clear eyes, Soft on whose lips Death’s slumber lies,
XIX.
Turned their gaze, Earnest and pitiful, on the ways Where the poor, burdened sons of toil Earned their bread amid dust and moil. Saw the dim attics where, day by day, Women were stitching their lives away, Bending low o’er the slender steel Till heart and brain began to reel, And their days Stretched on and on in a dreary maze.