Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, DEMOCRACY AT HAND, by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

DEMOCRACY AT HAND, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: He is coming, brothers, coming
Last Line: Hail, all hail, democracy!
Subject(s): Democracy


He is coming, brothers, coming,
As the eager seasons roll;
I can hear the axles humming
As he hurries to his goal.
With the impetus of sages,
With the weight of common clay,
With the rush of all the ages
He is speeding on his way.
See his coming, see and hear it,
As the sullen shadows flee
In the dawn of brother-spirit,
Forward-faced Democracy!

Gather up the ancient symbols,
Crowns and sceptres, thrones and kings;
Like a woman's worn-out thimbles
Toss away the tarnished things.
Lift on high the solid, real
Weights and values, customs, laws;
Fly the flags of the ideal
And the common people's cause;
Sweep aside the idols hoary
With a base antiquity,
And exalt his humble glory,
King of love, Democracy!

There shall be no servile gazing
On the glitter of a lord;
There shall be a just appraising,
There shall be a just award;
By the bond of honest labor,
By the bond of honest rest,
Neighbor shall be joined with neighbor
In the seeking of the best.
There shall be no brutal blindness,
Greed and glut no more shall be
In his rule of loving-kindness,
Brother-souled Democracy!

Weary-hearted with the waiting,
Poor and burdened and forlorn,
See, beyond the eastern grating,
See, the better day is born!
In the crimson glare of battle,
In the crash of mine and shell,
As foundations rock and rattle,
See the dawning miracle!
Lo, the last of liberations!
Lo, the crowning jubilee!
Blessed Sunrise of the nations,
Hail, all hail, Democracy!





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