Posted on 07/14/2008 7:15:38 PM PDT by John McDonnell
Lift the trumpet to thy mouth, America!
East and West and North and South, America!
Call us round the dazzling shrine
Of the starry old ensign,
Holier yet through blood of thine, America! America!
High o'er looking sea and land, America!
Trustfully with outheld hand, America!
Thou dost welcome all in quest
Of thy freedom, peace and rest,
Ev'ry exile is thy guest, America! America!
Thine a universal love, America!
Thine the cross and crown thereof, America!
Aid us, then, to sing thy worth:
God hath builded, from thy birth,
The first nation of the earth, America! America!
A MONUMENT for the Soldiers!*This poem became the rallying cry to build the Soldiers and Sailors Monument now located on the Circle in downtown Indianapolis, IN. Riley read a poem to dedicate this great public monument when it was done.
And what will ye build it of?
Can ye build it of marble, or brass, or bronze,
Outlasting the Soldiers' love?
Can ye glorify it with legends
As grand as their blood hath writ
From the inmost shrine of this land of thine
To the outermost verge of it?
And the answer came: We would build it
Out of our hopes made sure,
And out of our purest prayers and tears,
And out of our faith secure:
We would build it out of the great white truths
Their death hath sanctified,
And the sculptured forms of the men in arms,
And their faces ere they died.
And what heroic figures
And the sculptor carve in stone?
Can the marble breast be made to bleed,
And the marble lips to moan?
Can the marble brow be fevered?
And the marble eyes be graved
To look their last, as the flag floats past,
On the country they have saved?
And the answer came: The figures
Shall all be fair and brave,
And, as befitting, as pure and white
As the stars above their grave!
The marble lips, and breast and brow
Whereon the laurel lies,
Bequeath us right to guard the flight
Of the old flag in the skies!
A monument for the Soldiers!
Built of a people's love,
And blazoned and decked and panoplied
With the hearts ye build it of!
And see that ye build it stately,
In pillar and niche and gate,
And high in pose as the souls of those
It would commemorate!
James Whitcomb Riley National Poetry
CIRCLE CITY, BUMP!
I just today discovered that the song “The Messiah of Nations” was composed and performed in 1902 at the dedication of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Indianapolis. The 1914 copyright date referred to a later publication of the song.
To read a 1902 article about the song, go to:
http://www.angelfire.com/ks/landzastanza/jpstmon.html
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.