CLEAR THE WAY

Men of thought! be up and stirring

Night and day;

Sow the seed, withdraw the curtain,

Clear the way!

Men of action, aid and cheer them,

As ye may!

There's a fount about to stream,

There's a light about to beam,

There's a warmth about to glow,

There's a flower about to blow;

There's midnight blackness changing

Into gray!

Men of thought and men of action,

Clear the way!

Once the welcome light has broken,

Who shall say

What unimagined glories

Of the day?

What the evil that shall perish

In its ray?

Aid it, hopes of honest men;

Aid the dawning, tongue and pen;

Aid it, paper, aid it, type,

Aid it, for the hour is ripe;

And our earnest must not slacken

Into play.

Men of thought and men of action,

Clear the way!

Lo! a cloud's about to vanish

From the day;

And a brazen wrong to crumble

Into clay.

Lo! the Right's about to conquer,

Clear the way!

With the Right shall many more

Enter, smiling, at the door;

With the giant Wrong shall fall

Many others great and small,

That for ages long have held us

For their prey.

Men of thought and men of action,

Clear the way! --_Charles Mackay._

"If you have gracious words to say

Oh, give them to our hearts to-day,

But if your words will cause us sorrow,

Pray keep them till the last to-morrow."