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DAI NIPPON
99
Then earth beheld,
With awe and wonderment,
Goliath by this stripling nation felled,
Which—rising by no tedious ascent—
Swift as the upward flight of wind-swept flame,
Leapt from obscurity to dazzling fame,—
Star of the Orient!
And yet she won
Sublimer victories,
Who, high enlightened all excess to shun,
Did not exact remorseless penalties,
Nor force a brave and fallen foe to drain
Humiliation's brimming cup of pain
Down to the poisoned lees.
In lieu of things
Ephemeral—less worth,
She full-revealed the sweep of her strong wings,
And gained the suffrage of the grateful earth;
Choosing, as war should from her realms depart,
To give herself to the enduring Art
That was her own at birth.
Ah, great Japan,—
Who, staying griefs appalling.
