[Editor: This poem by Joseph Furphy was published in The Poems of Joseph Furphy (1916).]
“Glory to God; to Men Good Will!”
Opposed to Jewish Temple-rites,
Strange to the lore of Greece,
That message comes from starry heights,
A key to lasting Peace.
What-e’er our creed, we own its thrill —
“Glory to God; to men good will!”
Though Art may strive for utterance yet,
And Science grope her way,
A wider zone of thought is set
Where shines the perfect day;
A motive passing earthly skill —
“Glory to God; to men good will!”
For let the wise and prudent know,
As trustful children would,
That oracle of long ago
Contains the Greatest Good;
Unvex’d by doubt, unmix’d with ill —
“Glory to God; to men good will!”
A wiser world grows sick of strife,
Of mockery dearly bought;
And man, achieving truer life,
And brave, unselfish thought,
That high behest shall yet fulfil —
“Glory to God; to men good will!”
So lies millennial peace in reach,
While empires rise and fall;
For, age on age, and new to each,
That glad prophetic call
Comes pealing down the cycles still —
“Glory to God; to men good will!”
Source:
K. B. [Kate Baker] (editor), The Poems of Joseph Furphy, Melbourne: Lothian Book Publishing Co., 1916, pages 7-8
Editor’s notes:
cycle = a round of years, a recurring period of time, a long period of time
own = confess; admit or affirm that something is true
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