{"id":1452,"date":"2014-07-04T17:34:31","date_gmt":"2014-07-04T17:34:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.janice-campbell.com\/?p=1452"},"modified":"2022-06-29T18:32:10","modified_gmt":"2022-06-29T18:32:10","slug":"two-poems-and-a-march-for-independence-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/two-poems-and-a-march-for-independence-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Poems and a March for Independence Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

In honor of United States of America’s Independence Day\u00a0<\/strong>on the 4th of July, here are are two thought-provoking, classic poems, plus one of my all-time favorite marches. The first poem, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “A Nation’s Strength,”<\/strong> would make an excellent subject for memorization or copywork, while the second, Emma Lazarus’s “The New Colossus”<\/strong> is a reminder of America’s promise of welcome.<\/p>\n

\"Valley-Forge-independence-day\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A Nation\u2019s Strength<\/h3>\n

by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1904)<\/em><\/p>\n

What makes a nation\u2019s pillars high
\nAnd its foundations strong?
\nWhat makes it mighty to defy
\nThe foes that round it throng?<\/p>\n

It is not gold. Its kingdoms grand
\nGo down in battle shock;
\nIts shafts are laid on sinking sand,
\nNot on abiding rock.<\/p>\n

Is it the sword? Ask the red dust
\nOf empires passed away;
\nThe blood has turned their stones to rust,
\nTheir glory to decay.<\/p>\n

And is it pride? Ah, that bright crown
\nHas seemed to nations sweet;
\nBut God has struck its luster down
\nIn ashes at his feet.<\/p>\n

Not gold but only men can make
\nA people great and strong;
\nMen who for truth and honor\u2019s sake
\nStand fast and suffer long.<\/p>\n

Brave men who work while others sleep,
\nWho dare while others fly…
\nThey build a nation\u2019s pillars deep
\nAnd lift them to the sky.<\/p>\n

Ralph Waldo Emerson<\/strong> (1803 \u2013 1882) was a poet of the American Romantic era, as well as an essayist and lecturer. He is considered a leader of the nineteenth-century Transcendentalist movement. You may read more about him at my Excellence-in-Literature<\/a> site.<\/p>\n

“Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men
\nand so it must be daily earned and refreshed\u2014
\nelse like a flower cut from its life-giving roots,
\nit will wither and die.”
\n~President Dwight D. Eisenhower<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

And because most of America’s people “great and strong” (or their ancestors) have come from afar, I add one more poem:<\/p>\n

The New Colossus<\/h3>\n

by Emma Lazarus<\/a> (1883)<\/em><\/p>\n

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
\nWith conquering limbs astride from land to land;
\nHere at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
\nA mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
\nIs the imprisoned lightning, and her name
\nMother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
\nGlows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
\nThe air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.<\/p>\n

\u201cKeep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!\u201d cries she
\nWith silent lips. \u201cGive me your tired, your poor,
\nYour huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
\nThe wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
\nSend these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
\nI lift my lamp beside the golden door!\u201d<\/p>\n

Emma Lazarus<\/strong><\/a> (1849 \u2013 1887) was a Jewish-American poet and activist most famous for “The New Colossus.”<\/p>\n

\u201cSo whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
\nMatthew 7:12<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

“The Stars and Stripes Forever<\/strong><\/a>”<\/p>\n

This cheery marching tune is often heard at parades on Independence Day, Memorial Day, or Veterans Day.<\/p>\n

By John Phillips Sousa<\/a>, beautifully played by the\u00a0United States Marine Band.\u00a0<\/em>
\n