FLING OUT THE FLAG
(Written for the Worker)
March 1890
Fling out the Flag! Let her flap and rise in
the rush of the eager air,
With the ring of the wild swan’s wings as she
soars from the swamp and her reedy lair.
Fling out the Flag! And let friend and foe
behold , for gain or loss,
The sign of our faith and the fight we fight,
the stars of the Southern Cross!
Oh! blues for the sky that is fair for all, whoever,
wherever he be,
And the silver’s the light that shines on all for
hope and for liberty,
And that’s the desire that burns in our hearts,
for ever quenchless and bright,
And that’s the sigh of our flawless faith and
the peerless fight we fight!
What is the wealthiest land on earth, if the
millions suffer and cry,
And all but the happy selfish Few would fain
curse God and die?
What are the glorious Arts, as they sit and
sing on their jeweled thrones,
If their hands are wet with blood and their
feet befouled with festering bones?
What are the splendid Sciences, driving
Nature with a bit of steel,
If only the Rich can mount the car and the
Poor are dragged at the wheel?
Wealth is a curse, and Art a mock, and
Science worse than a lie,
When they’re but the gift of the bloated
spawn of the leeches that suck men dry!
Nay, brothers, nay! It is not for this- for a
land of wealth and woe,
That we hoped and trusted all these years,
that we toiled and struggled so.
It is not for a race of taskmasters and pitiful
cringing slaves,
That our strength and skill raised up happy
homes and dreamed of fearless graves.
It is not for a Cause that is less that all’s ,
that is not for Truth but a lie,
That we raise our faces and grip our hands,
and lift our voices high,
As we fling up the Flag that friend and foe
may see, for gain or loss,
The sign of our faith and the fight we fight,
the Stars of the Southern Cross!
As the sky above is fair for all, whoever,
wherever he be,
As the blessed stars on all shed their light of
hope and of liberty;
So let the earth, this fertile earth, this well-
lind southern land,
The fair to all, be free to all, from strand to
shining strand!
Let boy and girl and woman and man in it at
least be sure,
That all can earn their daily bread with
hearts as proud as pure;
Let man and woman and girl and boy in it
for ever be,
Heirs to the best this world can give, equal,
fearless, free!
Fling out the Flag! Let her flap and rise in the
rush of the eager air,
With the ring of the wild swan’s wings as she
soars from the swamp and her reedy lair!
Fling out the Flag! and let friend and foe be-
hold for gain or loss,
The sign of our faith and the fight we fight,
the Stars of the Southern Cross.
Oh! Blue’s the sky that is fair for all, whoever,
wherever he be,
And silver’s the light that shines on all, for hope
and for liberty;
And that’s the desire that runs in our hearts,
for ever quenchless and bright,
And that’s the sign of our flawless faith, and
the peerless fight we fight.