The World Grows Better

Oh! the earth is full of sinning          And of trouble and of woe,     But the devil makes an inning          Every time we say it's so.     And the way to set him scowling,          And to put him back a pace,     Is to stop this stupid growling,          And to look things in the face.     If you glance at history's pages,          In all lands and eras known,     You will find the buried ages          Far more wicked than our own.     As you scan each word and letter.          You will realise it more,     That the world to-day is better          Than it ever was before.     There is much that needs amending          In the present time, no doubt;     There is right that needs amending,          There is wrong needs crushing out.     And we hear the groans and curses          Of the poor who starve and die,     While the men with swollen purses          In the place of hearts go by.     But in spite of all the trouble          That obscures the sun to-day,     Just remember it was double          In the ages passed away.     And those wrongs shall all be righted,          Good shall dominate the land,     For the darkness now is lighted          By the torch in Science's hand.     Forth from little motes in Chaos,          We have come to what we are;     And no evil force can stay us -          We shall mount from star to star,     We shall break each bond and fetter          That has bound us heretofore;     And the earth is surely better          Than it ever was before.