humane solidarity, for we are children of the same great mother earth, who this night has laid into our hand the youngest member, the youngest continent, a new world. This family joy to-day solemnly stirs the hearts of all lands and nations of the earth. But this joy can best be interpreted to us only by the words of a poet. Mr. Pieris has consented to recite an ode in honour of the new continent, and I now call upon him to speak.
Pieris (on the rostrum):
Thanks be bestowed upon heaven and earth!
In the darkness of the heavens roared the organ of the winds
And earth quivered in birth-pangs,
Gnashing her stony teeth.
A great matter has been granted to us by Providence,
From whose lap a new joy has been granted to all.
Welcome ye the new-born!
A radiant star, our beloved sun, illumines it—
The Bethlehem star of us all.
Bring ye your love as a gift unto it,
And strew the light of joy before it.
From our cradle it is born.
Welcome ye the youngest sister!
A new continent has been born from ocean,
New Atlantis.
Ah, from ocean-foam a new Aphrodite emerges.
