"Britannia! Thou among the during ones,
A nursing mother unto Israel's might; 4000
Foremost to send thy daughters and thy sons
From shores afar, from darkness unto light.
As thou hast favored truth and 'friended right,
Their tongues shall plead for thee in time to come,
And nerve thine arm when perilous thy plight.
Borne on thy shoulder o'er the billowing foam,
Joseph and Judah find their heritage, their home.
"I saw, while justice showed the vision dire,
Till mercy's hand let fall the lifted veil,
The goal of the ungodly—blood and fire, 4010
Earthquake and whirlwind, pestilential hail
Smiting earth's face with desolating flail.
And this, the mere beginning of their woe,
Whose final fate a doom the damned bewail;
While they that follow Christ, anon shall go
To guide and save lost souls, groping in shades below.
"Good fears not evil—grapples with it strong,
Hell turns to heaven, the unclean purifies;
For evil is but good, the right bent wrong.
No weakling unto loftiest worlds can rise; 4020
No coward e'er hath scaled celestial skies;
'Tis strength that wins the goal of blessedness,
'Tis knowledge saves, 'tis wisdom glorifies;
Intelligence alone can lift and bless
The fallen, innocent till snared in sin's duress.
"What matter, if my mortal race be run,
Where earth enfolds me to her mother breast?
While ye, my people—yonder setting sun
Points out your path. For you, no peace, no rest,
Till firm your weary feet upon the West, 4030
Where, moveless as yon snowy spine of hills,
Befriended by the tempest, unopprest,
And bounteous as the sun that sends the rills
To bless the vales, God's first-born fold[17] His purpose fills.
"Affliction here, but friendship there and peace;
(More cruel Christian white than savage red),
And in a day when warning tongues shall cease,
And plain be seen what prophets all have said;
When peace shall have no pillow for her head,
Save lofty heights where loyal hosts abound; 4040
Brave sons of battling sires[18], who toiled and bled
That this might evermore be freedom's ground,
Shall give to you their strength God's Kingdom here to found.
"Bide mountain-walled, my people! stalwart, strong,
Till poureth down from hallowed founts on high,
The might that doth to righteousness belong,
The might of faith, the power of purity—
Despair and terror to iniquity.
Then, Ephra-Judah, who the hand shall bind
That clears thy path before thee? Foes shall fly 4050
As driven dust, as ashes in the wind;
The crouching Lion springs, and He the prey shall find.
"And by that power[19] shall Zion be redeemed,
Yea, with a mighty hand, an out-stretched arm,
With marvels, miracles, ne'er done nor dreamed
Since wonder oped her eyes. The world's alarm
Shall surge, an angry sea; but fear nor harm
Can hover near the conquering host of God.
'Gainst Lucifer's shall Michael's legions form,
Besoming the chosen soil with chastening rod, 4060
Till sainted towers arise on Eden's ancient sod.
"The place appointed. Naught else is designed;
Naught else can heaven accept. Put forth the hand,
Plant stakes of Zion, tight her cords to bind,
Where'er ye move, O fated pilgrim band!
But bring forth Zion's self on Zion's land[20];
The consecrated soil, whereon ye stood
With me, of late, loyal while treason fanned
The flame still thirsting for a martyr's blood.
There build, in time to be, a city unto God. 4070
"Nor there alone; for all is Zion's land,
North unto South, East unto Western wave,
Far as the hemisphere's wide wings expand,
She sits, a sovereign queen, ice-crowned, to lave
Her glowing hands in tropic tides, while brave
Her snowy feet in faith the southern sea.
Arm patient, slow to smite, yet swift to save,
A friend to right, a foe to tyranny.
And there be living now who then shall live and see.
"While here the glory of the Common Good[21], 4080
Shadowed and symboled by a patriot band,
Whose triumph wrought for human brotherhood,
Extending that high cause from strand to strand,
Shall bring deliverance unto every land.
But anarchy would foil the lofty aim,
The peace, the union, by Jehovah planned;
Wherefore 'tis doomed to failure and to shame,
With all unrighteous rule, whate'er its place or name.