Her eyes have seen the glory of the presence of the Lord: He was waiting in the garner where the fruits of life are stored; He was mindful of the warsong that was mightier than the sword: Of truth that marches on. She had seen Him in the turning of her ninety golden years, In the press of human struggle, human want, and human tears; She had seen His kingdom growing in the midst of woe and fears, His day that marches on. She had read a gracious gospel writ in many a gracious life, -- Toiler, statesman, trader, poet, hero husband, hero wife, -- She had found the peace eternal in the midst of mortal strife, Since God is marching on. Where He sounded forth His trumpet she would never call retreat; Where he led His worn battalions in the weary dust and heat, How swift her soul to answer Him; how jubilant her feet! For God was marching on. In the beauty of the autumn, in the shining of the sea, She has found the great enfranchisement, the Christ of liberty. As he died to make men holy, so she lived to make men free: Her soul is marching on. |