A Song Of Republics

Fair Freedom's ship, too long adrift -          Of every wind the sport -     Now rigged and manned, her course well planned,          Sails proudly out of port;     And fluttering gaily from the mast          This motto is unfurled,     Let all men heed its truth who read:          "Republics rule the World!"     The universe is high as God!          Good is the final goal;     The world revolves and man evolves          A purpose and a soul.     No church can bind, no crown forbid          Thought's mighty upward course -     Let kings give way before its sway,          For God inspires its force.     The hero of a vanished age          Was one who bathed in gore;     Who best could fight was noblest knight          In savage days of yore;     Now warrior chiefs are out of date,          The times have changed.    To-day     We call men great who arbitrate          And keep war's hounds at bay.     The world no longer looks to priest          Or prince to know its needs;     Earth's human throng has grown too strong          To rule with courts and creeds.     We want no kings but kings of toil -          No crowns but crowns of deeds;     Not royal birth but sterling worth          Must mark the man who leads.     Proud monarchies are out of step          With modern thought to-day,     For Brotherhood is understood,          And thrones may pass away.     Men dare to think.    Concerted thought          Contains more power than swords:     The force that binds united minds          Defeats mere savage hordes.     Man needs no arbitrary hand          To keep him in control;     He feels the power grow hour by hour          Of his expanding soul:     In God's stupendous scheme of worlds          He knows he has a place;     He is no slave to cringe, and crave          Some worthless monarch's grace.     As ocean billows undermine          The haughty shores each hour,     Time's sea has brought its waves of thought          To crumble thrones of power;     And one by one shall kingdoms fall          Like leaves before the blast,     As man with man combines to plan          Republics formed to last.     Columbia baulked a tyrant king,          And built upon a rock,     In Freedom's name, a shrine whose fame          Outlived the century's shock.     Now France within our port has set          Her symbol of re-birth;     Her lifted hand tells sea and land          Republics light the earth.     One mighty church for all the world          Would make men far more kind;     One government would bring content          To many a restless mind.     Sail on, fair ship of Freedom, sail          The wide sea's breadth and length.     'Till worlds unite to make the might          Of "One Republic's" strength.