Page:In Bohemia (1886).djvu/102

From base to cresting let thy work be new;
'Twas not by aping foreign ways it grew.
To struggling peoples give at least applause;
Let equities not precedent subtend your laws;
Like rays from that great Eye the altars show,
That fall triangular, free states should grow.
The soul above, the brain and hand below.
Believe that strength lies not in steel nor stone ;
That perils wait the land whose heavy throne.
Though ringed by swords and rich with titled show,
Is based on fettered misery below;
That nations grow where every class unites
For common interests and common rights;
Where no caste barrier stays the poor man's son.
Till step by step the topmost height is won;
Where every hand subscribes to every rule.
And free as air are voice and vote and school!
A Nation's years are centuries. Let Art
Portray thy first, and Liberty will start
From every field in Europe at the sight.
"Why stand these thrones between us and the light?"
Strong men will ask: "Who built these frontier towers
To bar out men of kindred blood with ours?"