Classic Poem

S TRENGTHENED and trained by toil and tears,
Born of the bold, the brave and free,
A nation, with its hundred years,
Its tribute brings, O God, to Thee.

What blessings, from Thy sovereign hand,
What trials, has the century brought!
How has this free and glorious land
Been loved, defended, led, and taught!

Our cautious feet, by night, by day,
Slowly the upward path have trod;
God was our light, and God our stay,
In flood and fire, in grief and blood.

So the brave oak, in calm and storm,
Spreads its strong roots and boughs abroad,
Grows grand in grace, and stalwart form,
Honored of men, and loved of God.

The century ends,—our hosts in peace
Hold the broad land, from sea to sea;
And every tongue, and every breeze
Breathes the sweet anthem of the free.

Still may the banner of thy love
O'er all our land in glory rest,
Our Heaven-appointed Ægis prove,
And make the coming centuries blest.

And every star that gems the blue,
And every field for Freedom won,
Shall tell of heroes, firm and true,
And swell the fame of Washington.