Freedom's Cause and Thine

Maoriland Worker, Volume I, Issue 7, 20 March 1911, Page 5

Freedom's Cause and Thine

1 An Appeal to the Worker. Ho, brother ! 'neath the iron heel Of Tyranny opprest, Look up ! the Star of Hope shines firm Within Night's murky crest, And nearer seems that Morn, whose beams Shall yet effulgent shine, And da.untless hearts act well their parts For Freedom's Cause and Tnine. O, never since the Sun-God shone Upon the earth at first, Hath such a power been leagued for war 'Gainst Mammon the Accurst; And ne'er, I ween, were braver seen Than those who crowd the line In battle's front, to bear the brunt For Freedom's Cause and Thine. For mc, I'd hoped in other paths To win a meed of praise ; With heart aflame, I courted Fame, And dreamed of fadeless bays— Now, Fame avaunt! your vision gaunt, Condemned to slave and pine, Constrains mc now to take the vow For Fi-eedo-m's Cause and Thine. The ties that erstwhile held mc fast, Can hinder m© no more, A passion, more than life itself, Burns at my bosom's core. The past, with all its hopes, I lay On Labour's hallowed shrine— Now death to mc would welcome be, For Freedom's Cause and Thine. —R. H.