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What makes a nation's pillars high
And its foundations strong?
What makes it mighty to defy
The foes that round it throng?
It is not gold. Its kingdoms grand
Go down in battle shock;
Its shafts are laid on sinking sand,
Not on abiding rock.
Is it the sword? Ask the red dust
Of empires passed away;
The blood has turned their stones to rust,
Their glory to decay.
And is it pride? Ah, that bright crown
Has seemed to nations sweet;
But God has struck its luster down
In ashes at his feet.
Not gold but only men can make
A people great and strong;
Men who for truth and honor's sake
Stand fast and suffer long.
Brave men who work while others sleep,
Who dare while others fly...
They build a nation's pillars deep
And lift them to the sky.
This poem is in the public domain.
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William Ralph Emerson (1833 - 1917) was born in Illinois but grew up in Boston. An architect, writer, teacher, artist, and lecturer, he was a second cousin and close confidant of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Ralph had no formal education in architecture, but trained with several successful builders and went on to establish himself as a significant designer, creating several of the first buildings for the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. and becoming known for his "Shingle Style" houses and inns.
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