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Now warrior chiefs are out of date,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.