Classic Poem

Who is the patriot? he who lights
The torch of war from hill to hill?
Or he who kindles on the heights
The beacon of a world's good will?

Who is the patriot? he who sends
A boastful challenge o'er the sea?
Or he who sows the earth with friends,
And reaps world-wide fraternity?

Who is the patriot? It is he
Who knows no boundary, race, or creed,
Whose nation is humanity,
Whose countrymen all souls that need;

Whose first allegiance is vowed
To the fair land that gave him birth,
Yet serves among the doubting crowd
The broader interests of the earth.

The soil that bred the pioneers
He loves and guards, yet loves the more
That larger land without frontiers,
Those wider seas without a shore.

Who is the patriot? Only he
Whose business is the general good,
Whose keenest sword is sympathy,
Whose dearest flag is brotherhood.