Our Poor Brethren.

"Our poor and penniless brethren, dispersed over land and sea."
--Masonic Sentiment



They met in the festive hall,
    Lamps in their brightness shone,
And merry music and mirth,
    Aided the feast of St. John.
Men pledged the health of their Queen
    And of all the Royal band,
The flags of a thousand years,
    The swords of their motherland.

Then mid the revelry came
    The sound of a mournful strain,
Like a minor chord in music,
    A sweet but sad refrain;
It rose on the heated air,
    Like a mourner's earnest plea,
"Our poor and penniless brethren
    Dispersed over land and sea."

Poor and penniless brethren
    Scattered over the world,
Want and misfortune and woe
    Round them fierce darts have hurled;
Wandering alone upon mountains,
    Sick and fainting and cold,
Lying heart-broken in prisons,
    Chained in an enemy's hold.

Dying in fields of combat,
    With none to answer back
The masonic sign of distress,
    Left on the battle's track.
Shipwrecked in foaming waters,
    Clinging to broken spars,
Dying, this night of St. John,
    Mid the ocean and the stars.

Others with hunger faint--we
    Taste these rich and varied meats--
Oppression gives them no home
    But dark and desolate streets.
Oh, God of mercy, hear us,
    As we ask a boon for Thee,
For poor and penniless brethren
    Dispersed over land and sea.

Poor and penniless brethren,
    Ah, in the Master's sight,
We all lay claim to the title
    On this, our festival night.
Lone pilgrims journeying on
    Towards light that points above,
Treading the chequered earthworks
    Till we reach the land of love.

Work up to the landmark, brothers,
    We shall not always stay,
The falling shadows warn us
    To work in the light of day.
How often our footsteps turn
    Where a brother's form is hid,
Oft we cast evergreen sprigs
    On a brother's coffin lid.

Thou, who dost give to each
    Some appointed post to hold,
Teach us to cherish the weak,
    To give Thy silver and gold;
To guard as a soldier guards
    Honor and Love's pure shrine,
To give our lives for others,
    As Thou did'st for us give Thine.

To Masons all over the world
    Give wisdom to work aright,
That they may gather in peace
    Their working tools at night.
May love's star glitter o'er each,
    Amid darkness, storm or mist,
As on this night of St. John,
    Our Blest Evangelist.