Classic Poem

Crown'd is our king to-day,
Bloom on the faded spray,
Dawn and her golden ray
After sad night;
Fled be the clouds that loom,
Routed the year-long gloom,
Shade of our Edward's tomb,
By the new Light!

Waft it, O breeze!
Whisper the Word on thy rustling wing,
Carry it over the leaping seas —
Kissing the dimly glittering sands —
To the lowly homes of far-off lands,
And the palaces of kings!

Ah! welcome the Word;
Wherever the red flag flutters
And a people's heart is true,
Wherever the olden songs are heard
Commingling with the new;
Where they think on sea-girt Britain,
And fight the wilful tears;
And the old home is the dear home
To wistful sojourners.

As when a weary captive lies,
Pale-peering through the bars,
And a noble thought flushes his brain,
And, all oblivious of pain,
His soul soars upward to the skies
And the bright joy-sobbing stars:
So, men on earth, O myriad-minded throng,
Scorning your narrow fetters, upward soar,
And with one voice to the wild air outpour
The thunderous magic of the patriots' song:

Crown'd is our king (ye say),
Crown'd are our hearts to-day,
One heart and crown for aye,
One song we sing;
Nobly his life be spent
For the world's betterment,
Peace, honour, and content:
Long reign our king!