Finis Coronat Opus

The blazing sun his rays casts forth Upon the weary ground, As fields of green and amber scorch ‘Neath his tyrannous frown. The summer days have lasted long, And parched has land become; Aye, fields of corn are growing strong, But rain, now there is none. At the edge of forest sits, Amid the blasting heat, A sprite whose faintest glow emits A feeling of relief. This faery lights among the fields At dawn, and with her brings The dewdrops, mist and midnight’s tears, To paint upon the leaves. She floats among the clover buds, With bees upon her heels, And waters flow’ring cotton, thus; How soft it soon shall feel! And when the rays of sun awake, Into the shade she flies To rest, and watch her labors make A blighted field soon thrive.

Moving soft through shadows grey, A figure wends its steadfast way, Through busy streets and markets bright, And alleys dark that wait for night; Yet nothing halts the spectre’s path, Nor slows or wearies it at last. Upon the busy world, its eyes, That shine with light of brightest skies, Glance to and fro, as on its way It wafts along a thousand days; A thousand streets to walk upon, A thousand tales beneath the sun. Such myths and stories great has seen This spirit soft with eyes so keen, And kept in ancient memory vast The legends of a world now past, Which mortal men too soon forget, From whence they came, and what comes yet. And so the spectre presses on, In the shadows, in the sun, Until, perchance, it finds a soul Of depth as oceans, heart as gold; And then, perhaps, the torch will pass, And mem’ry’s spirit rest at last.

Bound in deepest shadow, where No light can pierce the veil, Is chained a weary soldier there, Once strong and true, now pale. For countless days, ‘neath crushing dark This soul has torment borne And no more can the time now mark His agony forlorn. So in his dungeon, doomed he lies, No hope within his breast; For cursed he was beneath the skies The sun with light had blessed. But hark! what sound of clashing steel And cries of battle great, Reach now the bleeding pris’ner’s ear And grant a glimmer faint Of hope that long abandoned lay With dreams and visions old, Behind the walls of deepest pain That centuries had forged? Now sparks to roaring flame a zeal The soldier had forgot, And swift begins his heart to heal As hope does not depart. Sounds of thunder, flashing light, The soul within him stirs, And then is grasped and lifted high To see again the earth. For tasks he has yet to fulfill,  His work has not been done, And torture ‘neath the dark one’s will Has now been overcome.

In the still of night, when moon Has hid his face, and dark is long, And fireflies are nowhere found And so the shadow reigns unbound; In the distance, blinking soft, Beacons have been lit aloft ‘Mid the wilderness so vast That many trav’lers never passed. Many seasons of the sun Mark the time since soldier wan Pressed on, surviving day by day, Through the lonely wastelands grey. Thoughts for future home and rest Came not oft’ to this man’s breast; For survive, he must, lest soon His body, weary, meet its doom. And one day, after deserts bare, The biting winds, and dragons’ lairs, He came upon a mountain high, Where life abundant dwelt, and thrived. ‘Ere long, the man who cheated fate Began to build a city great, That trav’lers weary, far from home,  Would not so long be left alone. So stands a refuge, far beyond The wailing wastes of trials long; For mere existence does not last When vision learns from struggles past.

“Our lives, our wealth, our honor dear” Rings out o’er silent crowd, as clear As clarion call through Time’s vast halls And echoing long in minds of all Whose liberty now seek to claim As gift of God, though tyrants reign. As words of independence waft And hover in the air aloft, The people, long ‘neath royal heel Who suffer from King George’s seal, Raise a cry across the land,  That all who hear might with them stand. For kings and royal houses old Must never strain their bound’ries so, Lest, as they overstep their rule They look increasingly the fool; For not long can tyranny’s sway Hold laws of nature’s God at bay.