The Cyber Hymnal ‎#7198

7198. We Knelt Before Kings

1. We knelt before kings; we bent before lords;
For theirs were the crowns, and theirs were the swords:
But times of the bending and bowing are past,
The day of the people is dawning at last!

2. We cringed before gold; we deified wealth;
We laid on its altar the life and the health
Of manhood and womanhood, and childhood and youth;
Its lordship is doomed in this day of the truth.

3. The strength of the state we’ll lavish on more
Than massing of wealth and making of war;
We’re learning at last, though the lesson comes late,
The making of man is the task of the state.

4. Great Day of Jehovah! prophets and seers
Have sung of thy coming thousands of years;
Thank God for each sign that the dark night is past;
The day of the people is dawning at last.

Text Information

• First Line: We knelt before kings; we bent before lords
• Title: We Knelt Before Kings
• Author: William P. Merrill (1914, alt.)
• Meter: 10.10.11.11
• Language: English
• Copyright: Public Domain

Tune Information

• Name: LYONS
• Composer (attributed to): Jo­hann M. Haydn, 1737-1806
• Arranger: William Gardiner
• Meter: 10.10.11.11
• Incipit: 51123 14432 54112
• Key: G Major
• Source: Ar­ranged in Sac­red Mel­odies (Lon­don: 1815)
• Copyright: Public Domain