Classic Poem

For we, South Africans, are the offspring
Of pioneers and voortrekkers:
Our fathers who reclaimed this land
Waged daily warfare against savage people
And wild beasts and reptiles of the veld,
And in their struggles some were infected
With the darker characteristics
Of their cunning and implacable foes.
Few of us have inherited
A tittle of our forefathers' greatness,
But many of us are endowed
Lavishly with their littleness.
How shall we shake off the fetters
Of our paralysing heathendom?
When shall we be civilized and free?