Classic Poem

Paint black with peril what the Time portends;
Breathe, if thou wilt, but stifling hopelessness;
Brood on Man's swift decline from small to less—
The beast that wallows or the beast that rends:
Yet shall the Good prevail,
We shall not fail!

Blush for our country's dignity and fame,
Forgot by those who rob us of our pride;
Deplore the sleepers at the altar's side
While madmen light their torch at Freedom's flame:
Yet shall the Good prevail,
We shall not fail!

Yea, shudder at the temple strewn with coin;
Law leaning on the broken sword of Force;
And streams of weakness, come from many a source,
In one wild flood of turbulence to join.
Yet shall the Good prevail,
We shall not fail!

Hast thou forgotten Heaven's patient plan?
From many a blacker chaos have we come.
Nature, a million heroes in her womb,
Doth ever answer to the need of Man.
So shall the Best prevail,
And we not fail!