Classic Poem

A ROUND the world the fame is blown
Of fighting heroes, dead and gone;
But we've a hero of our own—
The man who rose from nothing.

He's a magician great and grand:
The forests flee at his command;
And here he says, “Let cities stand!”—
The man who rose from nothing.

And in our legislative hall
He tow'ring stands alone; like Saul,
A head and shoulders over all—
The man who rose from nothing.

His efforts he will ne'er relax,
Nor faith in figures and in facts;
He always calls an ax an ax—
The man who rose from nothing.

This gentleman in word and deed
Is short and simple in his creed:
“Fear God and help the soul in need”—
The man who rose from nothing.

In other lands he's hardly known,
For he's a product of our own,
Could grace a shanty or a throne—
This man who rose from nothing.

Here's to the land of lakes and pines,
On which the sun of Freedom shines,
Because we meet on all our lines
The man who rose from nothing.