| |
| THERE ’s a good time coming, boys. | |
| A good time coming: | |
| We may not live to see the day, | |
| But earth shall glisten in the ray | |
| Of the good time coming. | 5 |
| Cannon-balls may aid the truth, | |
| But thought ’s a weapon stronger; | |
| We ’ll win our battle by its aid;— | |
| Wait a little longer. | |
| |
| There ’s a good time coming, boys, | 10 |
| A good time coming: | |
| The pen shall supersede the sword, | |
| And Right, not Might, shall be the lord | |
| In the good time coming. | |
| Worth, not Birth, shall rule mankind, | 15 |
| And be acknowledged stronger; | |
| The proper impulse has been given;— | |
| Wait a little longer. | |
| |
| There ’s a good time coming, boys, | |
| A good time coming: | 20 |
| War in all men’s eyes shall be | |
| A monster of iniquity | |
| In the good time coming. | |
| Nations shall not quarrel then, | |
| To prove which is the stronger; | 25 |
| Nor slaughter men for glory’s sake;— | |
| Wait a little longer. | |
| |
| There ’s a good time coming, boys, | |
| A good time coming: | |
| Hateful rivalries of creed | 30 |
| Shall not make their martyrs bleed | |
| In the good time coming. | |
| Religion shall be shorn of pride, | |
| And flourish all the stronger; | |
| And Charity shall trim her lamp;— | 35 |
| Wait a little longer. | |
| |
| There ’s a good time coming, boys, | |
| A good time coming: | |
| And a poor man’s family | |
| Shall not be his misery | 40 |
| In the good time coming. | |
| Every child shall be a help | |
| To make his right arm stronger; | |
| The happier he, the more he has;— | |
| Wait a little longer. | 45 |
| |
| There ’s a good time coming, boys, | |
| A good time coming: | |
| Little children shall not toil | |
| Under, or above, the soil | |
| In the good time coming; | 50 |
| But shall play in healthful fields, | |
| Till limbs and mind grow stronger; | |
| And every one shall read and write;— | |
| Wait a little longer. | |
| |
| There ’s a good time coming, boys, | 55 |
| A good time coming: | |
| The people shall be temperate, | |
| And shall love instead of hate, | |
| In the good time coming. | |
| They shall use, and not abuse, | 60 |
| And make all virtue stronger; | |
| The reformation has begun;— | |
| Wait a little longer. | |
| |
| There ’s a good time coming, boys, | |
| A good time coming: | 65 |
| Let us aid it all we can, | |
| Every woman, every man, | |
| The good time coming: | |
| Smallest helps, if rightly given, | |
| Make the impulse stronger; | 70 |
| ’T will be strong enough one day;— | |
| Wait a little longer. | |
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