Wake Up America

My friend from Prying1 found a fantastic poem published in 1940 that seems quite appropriate to our world today.

This month in “Lost Poetry Corner” is a book called Land of the Lakes by Alice Bowerson Grinnell – The following poem is from this book and I thought it apropos for today.
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Wake Up America

Wake up America, to the crisis of today.
Hold aloft the torch of peace to a world that’s lost its way.
How can justice be so blind that cruel wars can reign,
That tyrants terrorize mankind for power and greedy gain?
We who are so strong and free must lend a helping hand
To end destruction o’er the sea, that freedom’s cause may stand.

Wake up America; be patriots one and all.
Marching on in unison, we shall never fall.
Search for traitors everywhere they may chance to be;
Keep Old Glory in the air to boast our liberty.
Shut for joy around the world, until the mountains quake;
Be alert America; wake up for freedom’s sake.

Wake up America, build armoured ships and planes.
May our youth be clean and strong; may valor never wane.
Aggressors we shall never be within a foreign land,
But if invaders cross the sea we’ll fight for Uncle Sam.
Wake up, America, that you may ever stay
The hallowed shrine of liberty the whole world knows today.

~~~~~
Land of the Lakes by Alice Bowerson Grinnell – Exposition Press, New York, N.Y. 1941 –

The last page of the book has a closing letter from Alice dated Dec 6, 1940 –
One year and one day later Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese (7th December 1941).
One year and two days later the U.S. declared war on Japan (8th December 1941).
Italy and Germany then declared war against the U.S (Dec 11, 1941).