IT has taken the ages to teach us, Long struggles through error and pain, Too slow was the truth to reach us, Though the truth was always plain; But we know at this latest hour, As the wisdom of God's great plan, If the race shall grow into power, Man must do more for man. 'T is the centuries' one conclusion, The gift of the blood-drenched years, The dawn from the night's confusion, The hope that is forged from fears; And the words burn now like fire (Though obscured when the world began), If we as a race rise higher, Man must do more for man. Dead peoples knew of His sayings And they kept the truth in their creeds, They voiced the truth in their prayings, But they lived it not in their deeds; Self-love and the self's own pleasure Was the rule and the law with men, Now the heart has a broader measure And the race has a larger ken. We have come to the clear decision Through the travail of the soul, But at last we have seen the vision — Humanity moves as a whole; And we know at this raptured hour That the welfare of all is His plan, And the race shall come into power When man does more for man. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FALSE FRIENDS-LIKE by WILLIAM BARNES EACH IN HIS OWN TONGUE by WILLIAM HERBERT CARRUTH WOODS IN WINTER by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW THE LOST CHILD by ST. CLAIR ADAMS THE METAMORPHOSIS OF THE WALNUT-TREE OF BOARSTELL: CANTO 1 by WILLIAM BASSE SONG by FRANCOIS JOACHIM DE PIERRE DE BERNIS INAUGURATION SONNET: WILLIAM JEWETT TUCKER by HARRY RANDOLPH BLYTHE |