Poetry Friday all red, whie, and blue is at My Little Juicy Universe.
Happy Fourth of July. I discovered this poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson, born the same year as when Lewis and Clark left to search for the Northwest Passage. It seems a fitting poem for today.
A Nation’s Strength
Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803 – 1882
What makes a nation’s pillars high
And its foundations strong?
What makes it mighty to defy
The foes that round it throng?
It is not gold. Its kingdoms grand
Go down in battle shock;
Its shafts are laid on sinking sand,
Not on abiding rock.
Is it the sword? Ask the red dust
Of empires passed away;
The blood has turned their stones to rust,
Their glory to decay.
And is it pride? Ah, that bright crown
Has seemed to nations sweet;
But God has struck its luster down
In ashes at his feet.
Not gold but only men can make
A people great and strong;
Men who for truth and honor’s sake
Stand fast and suffer long.
Brave men who work while others sleep,
Who dare while others fly…
They build a nation’s pillars deep
And lift them to the sky.
I’m at friends in Idaho, my place to be on this holiday. Small town parade, a picnic in the park, and fireworks tonight. Have a wonderful weekend.
Happy Friday.
Happy poetry.
Check It Out 
This is my favorite stanza today:
Is it the sword? Ask the red dust
Of empires passed away;
The blood has turned their stones to rust,
Their glory to decay.
On this day, and others, I am so appreciative of all those who keep us safe from many things: “Brave men who work while others sleep,” sometimes just the hard things in society we don’t see. I hope you have a wonderful time in Idaho, Jone.
I’m thinking especially of these folks today:
Men who for truth and honor’s sake
Stand fast and suffer long.
Interesting to think of Emerson’s birth juxtaposed with the launch of the Corps of Discovery – so many resonances there. Have a wonderful Fourth in Idaho, Jone – it sounds so old-timey and fun!
“The red dust/ of empires passed away” – that’s for sure – so goes empire, and I hope we can adjust to that. Hope you have a wonderful time with your family in Idaho, Jone. Happy 4th!
Great pick for the holiday weekend, Jone! Thanks for sharing it.
Hi, Jone–
Forgive me…I enjoyed reading this poem, and its fundamental sentiment, but I just can’t get around the MENliness of it and others of its time. I fear that MEN have joined gold, sword and pride on the list of things that don’t make a nation strong….
Hope you enjoyed your small-town Fourth!
Small town parade sounds like so much fun. I smiled at Heidi’s comment above. 🙂 Emerson did live in a radically different time. 🙂