Above the din of commerce, above the clamor and rattle <br />Of labor disputing with riches, of Anarchists' threats and groans, <br />Above the hurry and hustle and roar of that bloodless battle, <br />Where men are fighting for riches. I hear the falling of thrones. <br /> <br /> <br />I see no savage host, I hear no martial drumming, <br />But down in the dust at our feet lie the useless crowns of kings; <br />And the mighty spirit of Progress is steadily coming, coming, <br />And the flag of one republic abroad to the world he flings. <br /> <br /> <br />The Universal Republic, where worth, not birth, is royal; <br />Where the lowliest born may climb on a self-made ladder to fame; <br />Where the highest and proudest born, if he be not true and loyal, <br />Shall find no masking title to cover and gild his shame. <br /> <br /> <br />Not with the bellow of guns and not with sabres whetting, <br />But with growing minds of men is waged this swordless fray; <br />While over the dim horizon the sun of royalty, setting, <br />Lights, with a dying splendor, the humblest toiler's way.<br /><br />Ella Wheeler Wilcox<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-falling-of-thrones/
