Thy manhood, gone to battle unaccursed,

Our fathers left to till th' reluctant field,

To rape the soil for what she would not yield;

Wooing for aye, the cold unam'rous sod,

Whose growth for them still meant a master's rod;

Tearing her bosom for the wealth that gave

The strength that made the toiler still a slave.

Too long we hear the deep impassioned cry

That echoes vainly to the heedless sky;

Too long, too long, the Macedonian call