Knowledge, the lamp of genius, full and free,
Thou art a guardian angel clothed in light;
How dumb, we mortals, were it not for thee
To guide us through the centuries of night!
Beneath the power of thy magic wand
The dark delusions of the past have fled,
And shrines of ignorance no longer stand,
Around which blinded nations fought and bled.
'Tis at thy shrine the future statesman dwells,
And learns the secret of an empire's weal,
And Science, to her son and daughter, tells
The mysteries deep that some can only feel;
'Tis thine to solve the puzzle of the skies,
And cast a light upon the dark eclipse;
To pluck the fury from Dissension's eyes,
And sip the honey from Apollo's lips.
Thy children rise, no matter how obscure,
And often mount the pinnacle of fame;
And all who enter at thy golden door
Are made more alien to the sting of shame;
Thine is the power of eloquence sublime;
Thine is the wonderous wisdom of the age;
Thine is the logic of the poet's rhyme,
And triumphs of discoverer and sage.
Then come, O glorious Knowledge, evermore,
And smile upon all nations on the earth!
Long may thy temples gleam on every shore
As emblems of an empire's weal and worth:
Long may the toilers, who to fame aspire,
Trust to the power of thy eagle wings,
And mount the lofty summit higher and higher
To gain the golden fruit that labor brings.