Young America-Old England
by Charles Kent (1823�1902) |
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WHAT! shall Saxon bonds be sundered
By the sordid
lust of gain?
Shall the realms of peace be ravaged
By
the rulers of the main
For the greed of gold or glory?
No,�forbid it, God the Lord!
Young America�Old England�
Hand-in-hand, not sword to sword!
Shall one hour
dissever races
Thus allied by kindred fame,
Speaking
both one common language,
Men with blood and bards the
same?
Such dark crime can never follow
Foolish taunt
or idle word:
Young America�Old England�
Hand-in-hand,
not sword to sword!
Has not History woven our laurels
Till their many wreaths are one,�
Yours the pride in
burly Cromwell,
Ours in honest Washington?
With the
radiance of past annals
Shall the future not be stored?
Young America�Old England�
Hand-in-hand, not sword to
sword!
Does broad ocean roll between us?
We are
still brought side by side,
By the peaceful navies
Commerce
Scatters grandly o'er the tide.
Shall we wake
our dormant thunders
Where toil-laden ships are moored?
Young America�Old England�
Hand-in-hand, not sword to
sword!
Have we not alike together
Prized the songs
our poets sung
Since the golden day when Genius
First
drew music from our tongue?
Godlike Shakespeare, seerlike
Milton,
All now cry with one accord,
Young America�Old
England�
Hand-in-hand, not sword to sword!
Has not
Art shed equal splendors
On the treasures each possest
In the homely hues of Hogarth,
In the sacred dyes of
West:
And not less on Powers than Flaxman
Phidian inspiration poured?
Young America�Old England�
Hand-in-hand, not sword to sword!
We have loved the
same old legends
Throwing charms around our lot,
Through each tale of gentle Irving,
Each romance of
gorgeous Scott.
And shall war pollute the cloudland,
Battle dint the fairy sward?
Young America�Old England�
Hand-in-hand, not sword to sword!
Then shall Saxon
bonds be sundered
By the sordid lust of gain?
Shall
the realms of peace be ravaged
By the rulers of the main
For the greed of gold or glory?
No,�forbid it, God the
Lord!
Young America�Old England�
Hand-in-hand, not
sword to sword! |
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By Charles Kent (1823�1902)
Listed February 26, 2014
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Written in 1852 |
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