Poems (Merrill)/Onward for Freedom and Right

by Clara A. Merrill

ONWARD FOR FREEDOM AND RIGHT

(Written at the time of the Spanish-American War.)

"All that there is in Cuba's lands
 Is ours, and we shall reign;
Or we will fight them till they die!"
 Thus comes the cry from Spain.
"They never shall their freedom have—
 We will rule with iron hand;
They shall bow to us, they shall heed our laws
 Or we'll drive them from the land!"

"Ye cruel tyrants! Are ye men?"
 ('Twas 'Uncle Sam' who spoke.)
"Desist, or ye shall see this end
 In cannon roar, and fire, and smoke
Ye worse than tyrants! what have ye done?
 Ye have pillaged, burned and destroyed—
Ye have starved helpless men and women to death
 And the wailing of children enjoyed.

Ye have tortured them with fiendish delight,
 And hundreds of people have slain;
Ye caused the death of our brave, noble men,
 Who went down in the wreck of the "Maine."
Ye can come to me if ye want to fight,—
 Ye can come with your jeer and taunt;
And ye can fight to your hearts' content,
 If fighting is what ye want.

Our boys so brave, when duty calls,
 Will all their strength unite;
And fight as long as there is need
 For freedom and for right.
May the curse forever be wiped out
 That now the country mars;
And peace restored in this fair land
 Where float the stripes and stars."