The Great Democracy Poem by Robert Kirkland Kernighan

From ocean unto ocean our noble land is fair,

A hundred million freemen's homes await their owners
there.

Then fling the tidings broadcast, the striving world among,
Till those who kneel to despots are to independence stung ;
Till those who work in bondage beneath the tyrant's heel,
Will in th^ir hearts the springing tide of hope and triumph feel ;
Till people who have burst their chains, determined to be free,
By hundred thousands come to join the Great Democracy.

A home, a home for millions ! Behold these millions

come
No blast of brazen trumpet, no crash of warlike drum ;


They come with plowshares in their hands, their faces

bright and glad

An army mightier by far than monarch ever had.
Beneath their free and swinging tread the thrones of

kingdoms crack :
Kings, czars and kaisers vainly try to keep these millions

back ;

They march in time to music, an anthem of the free,
The chorus rolls to Heaven high, ' The Great Democracy.'

Ye inland oceans feel the ring ; ye forests chant and sing ;
Ye prairies clap your hands with joy, Democracy is king !
Fling open wide the golden gates, build fires along the

coast,
And welcome in with mirth and song the fast advancing

host.

Lift up your heads, ye mountains, in all your noble pride :
Make ready to receive them, ye prairies green and wide ;
They come as strong as oceans, resistless as the sea,
To help to build our nation new, the Great Democracy.