Friday, June 30, 2023

Last Day Of The Month Poem: UnManifest Destiny



 "For God is King of all the earth; sing praises in a skillful psalm
and with understanding. God reigns over the nations; God sits upon
His holy throne. The princes and nobles of the people are gathered
together, a united people for the God of Abraham, for the shields
of the earth belong to God: He is highly exalted."
(Psalm 47:7-9)



Colonel Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders at the top of the hill they
 captured during the Battle of San Juan in the Spanish-American War of 1898.
Photograph by William Dinwiddie
Image courtesy/Library of Congress via Wikipedia



To what new fates, my country, far

And unforeseen of foe or friend,

Beneath what unexpected star,

Compelled to what unchosen end,

Across the sea that knows no beach

The Admiral of the Nations guides

Thy blind obedient keels to reach

The harbor where thy future rides!

The guns that spoke at Lexington

Knew not that God was planning then

The trumpet word of Jefferson

To bugle forth the rights of men.

To them that wept and cursed Bull Run,

What was it but despair and shame?

Who saw behind the cloud the sun?

Who knew that God was in the flame?

Had not defeat upon defeat

Disaster on disaster come,

The slave's emancipated feet

Had never marched behind the drum.


There is a Hand that bends our deeds

To mightier issues than we planned;

Each son that triumphs, each that bleeds,

My country, serves Its dark command.


I do not know beneath what sky

Nor on what seas shall be thy fate;

I only know it shall be high,

I only know it shall be great.


Portrait of Richard Hovey
Robert Bryden
Image courtesy/Wikipedia

"UnManifest Destiny"*
(1898)
From "Along The Trail"
 By Richard Hovey
(1864-1900)
American poet

* This poem was written during the Spanish-American War in 1898,
which brought into use the phrase, "Manifest Destiny" referring to
the new world policy of nations.




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