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<h2>Ring Out Glad Song. (A Diamond Jubilee Ode, 1897)</h2> <div class="poetry"> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> A PERFECT joy, the sages say, Is more contagious than a grief; A joy exceeding all belief Is reigning in the world to-day. Joy! See it spread on every side The sea-girt Isles, so grand and proud, Joy! Hear its paean sweet and loud Go swelling—swelling—far and wide; It is the YEAR of JUBILEE! Ring out glad song o’er land and sea; God Save our Good Victoria! </div> <div class="stanza"> Old England warms now, through and through, The rugged thing is full of love, And pregnant with the thoughts that move The great soul of a nation true, Whom God’s hand hath been leading on Through all the centuries dim and grey, From ages dark, to dusk of dawn, And then to full and perfect day. It is the YEAR of JUBILEE! Ring out glad song o’er land and sea; God save our Good Victoria!{78} </div> <div class="stanza"> And green-clad Erin lifts her voice— Full sweet the words ring on her tongue— She will be always fair and young— And always ready to rejoice. The lochs, the streams, the granite hills, Of bonnie Scotland are aglow, (Stronghold of loyalty you know) And to the sky the paean thrills: It is the YEAR of JUBILEE! Ring out glad song o’er land and sea; God save our Good Victoria! </div> <div class="stanza"> East, West, North, South, it seems to float, And pulses stir, and mem’ries wake, “For God and merrie England’s sake,” How oft has rung that battle note! But ah, a grander measure moves This glad old world of ours to-day, Rings through the wilds—through palm tree groves And rugged north lands far away: It is the YEAR of JUBILEE! Ring out glad song o’er land and sea; God save our Good Victoria! </div> <div class="stanza"> Rings through the solitudes so lone, Through places all aglow with bloom,{79} Through dim, waste tracts where lurks the gloom— From Southern shores to Arctic Zone. O mighty Empire, stretching far, On solid, grand, foundations laid, In love with peace, yet not afraid To meet, if needs, grim visaged war. It is the YEAR of JUBILEE! Ring out glad song o’er land and sea: God save our Good Victoria! </div> <div class="stanza"> Australia hears it as she stands Fanned by the sea-winds all around, And sends a voice to swell the sound From fertile fields and pasture lands. In Canada—blest spot of earth— Joy revels on this perfect day, And all aflame with pride of birth, She sings out in her lusty way; It is the YEAR of JUBILEE; Ring out glad song o’er land and sea; God save our Good Victoria! </div> <div class="stanza"> The shadows long ago have fled, Her song goes ringing clear and sweet, From the Atlantic at her feet, To the Pacific at her head;{80} From meadow wide, from forest tall, From hill-top high and valley deep, From rapids with their whirling sweep, From river, lake, and waterfall: It is the YEAR of JUBILEE! Ring out glad song o’er land and sea; God save our Good Victoria! </div> <div class="stanza"> O Queen! we could not give thee less, Well hast thou earned by noble thought, By noble deeds thy hand hath wrought, Our homage—and our tenderness. Thy mother heart must thrill and move To note the gladness of the time, Hear thy name sung in every clime By voices solemn—sweet with love. It is the YEAR of JUBILEE! Ring out glad song o’er land and sea; God save our Good Victoria! </div> </div></div> <ANTIMG src="images/deco.png" width-obs="25" alt="[Decorative image unavailable.]" /> {81} <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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