Let me make the songs for the people, <br />Songs for the old and young; <br />Songs to stir like a battle-cry <br />Wherever they are sung. <br /> <br />Not for the clashing of sabres, <br />For carnage nor for strife; <br />But songs to thrill the hearts of men <br />With more abundant life. <br /> <br />Let me make the songs for the weary, <br />Amid life's fever and fret, <br />Till hearts shall relax their tension, <br />And careworn brows forget. <br /> <br />Let me sing for little children, <br />Before their footsteps stray, <br />Sweet anthems of love and duty, <br />To float o'er life's highway. <br /> <br />I would sing for the poor and aged, <br />When shadows dim their sight; <br />Of the bright and restful mansions, <br />Where there shall be no night. <br /> <br />Our world, so worn and weary, <br />Needs music, pure and strong, <br />To hush the jangle and discords <br />Of sorrow, pain, and wrong. <br /> <br />Music to soothe all its sorrow, <br />Till war and crime shall cease; <br />And the hearts of men grown tender <br />Girdle the world with peace.<br /><br />Frances Ellen Watkins Harper<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/songs-for-the-people-2/
