Classic Poem

A new order of honor is needed,
And 'tis time that the old passed away,
For it must and it will be conceded
That the gods we have now are all clay.
Then hurrah for the man with the hammer!
Let him smite, in the dust let him tread!
The builders and molders are busy—
Give us nobles of heart and of head!

“His majesty”—words without meaning,
For the monarch possesses it not;
“His highness”—the man has a leaning
To the gutter; in fact, is a sot.
“Most noble”—alas! he is famous
As a soiler of virtue instead.
O God, give us soon, give us only
The nobles of heart and of head!

Is an ape, although gilded with riches,
Worth more than an image of Christ?
Take the old idols down from the niches:
Too long has their worship sufficed.
Let us bow to the man—he's our hero,
Though he toil like a slave for his bread.
Let us honor the world's only great ones—
The nobles of heart and of head.

Hear the prophets with awe, though with wonder;
Say not, “It is dark,” with a sneer:
From the blackest of skies bellows thunder,
And the heavens then suddenly clear.
It is coming—the day that we long for
(Oh, speed it before we are sped)—
When earth shall pay homage alone to
The nobles of heart and of head!