Wake, awake to duty!
See, the morning light
Falls with radiant beauty
From the arms of night.
Claim the hours before thee
For the tasks of life,
Thousand calls implore thee
From the din of strife.
Listless minds are dreaming,
Idle hands are still;
Evil hearts are scheming
Purposes of ill.
See the hands that beckon,
Hear the call of right;
Thou with God must reckon
Up, and toil and fight!
2
Through the hours of morning,
At the height of noon,
When the light gives warning
Night approaches soon:
Do the task with gladness
Which the hours present;
Who can tell the sadness
Of a day mis-spent?
Day by day declineth,
Time is getting hoar;
Soon yon sun that shineth
Sets for evermore.
Ah, the City glorious,
Where they need no sun,
Ah, the band victorious,
And the glad "Well done"!