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from THE TOWN
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 August 2019
Lone figure on the stage,
With lonely vision wild,
Changing the annals of our age
All in thy simple mien so mild.
And myriads in thy train,
Whose hearts are all aglow,
Declare that never stress nor strain
Can steal their love's perpetual flow!
Where'er thy pathway bends,
Thick crowds like flowers strewn
Devoutly on thy sway attend,
Such as world emperors great were shewn!
Encircled everywhere
With wreaths of heartfelt cheers,
Fresher than those the Caesars wear
In all their triumphs fraught with fears!
Pent in thy bosom now,
And undelivered yet,
A New Covenant to endow
The human race with dreams unmet.
Nursed in thy bosom-base
And unabated too,
The anguish of thy suffering Race
That sharpened thee to give the clue!
Stately and all alone,
With lonely vision wild,
That opens breach in bordered zone
To preach—‘No Race shall be reviled!’
Thy suave and silent power,
Fenceless of armoury,
Hath taken citadel and tower
More than old days of archery.
Futile before such power,
Stands modern craft of War;
And man-made thunderclap must cower
Before the Art men's hearts adore!
No General, lost so few
In warfare great as thine,
Where arms and squadrons come to rue
Like helpless craft on ruthless brine!
Self-disciplined, austere,
A Creed unto thy soul,
Hath preached a Kingdom far secure
That eddies in the bosom whole!
The Nation's need art thou,
As dew to the rainless field;
Their brimful knowledge hacks them now,
They dread the curbless Force they wield!
Unfathomed Messenger!
Thy Mission half-confessed
Augurs New Day (whose Harbinger
Thou art) when all has been addressed!
Like phantom visitant,
From some aerial realm,
Released in clay though hesitant,
To take our glorious Ghana's helm!
Like lingering Meteor bright,
Flaring our Nation's shy,
Presaging omens good in sight,
And prosperous days unnumbered nigh!
Mortal, and not like one,
Thrust on our age as such
By some propitious Chance or Throne
To change affairs and values much!
Unpleasant thou must be,
Upsetting bowels and brow
Of rash regimes that disagree—
Old systems new ones must allow!
Few Victors ever lived
To see their conquests thrive;
Thee Destiny has deftly hived
To rear, and reap thy mighty drive!
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