Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, HYMN OF THE WEST, by EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN


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HYMN OF THE WEST, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: O thou, whose glorious orbs on high
Last Line: Land of the new and lordlier race!
Subject(s): Louisiana Purchase Exposition (1904); Patriotism; Peace; St. Louis, Missouri


O THOU, whose glorious orbs on high
Engird the earth with splendor round,
From out Thy secret place draw nigh
The courts and temples of this ground;
Eternal Light,
Will with Thy might
These domes that in Thy purpose grew,
And lift a nation's heart anew!

Illumine Thou each pathway here,
To show the marvels God hath wrought
Since first Thy people's chief and seer
Looked up with that prophetic thought,
Bade Time unroll
The fateful scroll,
And empire unto Freedom gave
From cloudland height to tropic wave.

Poured through the gateways of the North
Thy mighty rivers join their tide,
And on the wings of morn sent forth
Their mists the far-off peaks divide.
By Thee unsealed,
The mountains yield
Ores that the wealth of Ophir shame,
And gems enwrought of seven-hued flame.

Lo, through what years the soil hath lain,
At Thine own time to give increase --
The greater and the lesser grain,
The ripening boll, the myriad fleece!
Thy creatures graze
Appointed ways;
League after league across the land
The ceaseless herds obey Thy hand.

Thou, whose high archways shine most clear
Above the plenteous western plain,
Thine ancient tribes from round the sphere
To breath its quickening air are fain;
And smiles the sun
To see made one
Their brood throughout Earth's greenest
space,
Land of the new and lordlier race!




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