The Fathers Built This City

The fa­thers built this ci­ty

In ag­es long ago

And bu­sy in the bu­sy streets

They hur­ried to and fro;

The child­ren played around them

And sang the songs of yore

Till one by one they fell asleep

To work and play no more.

Yet still the city stand­eth

A hive of toil­ing men

And mo­ther’s love makes hap­py home

For child­ren now as then;

O God of ag­es

help us

Such ci­ti­zens to be

That child­ren’s child­ren here may sing

The songs of li­ber­ty.

Let all the peo­ple praise Thee

Give all Thy sav­ing health

Or vain the la­bor­er’s strong right arm

And vain the mer­chant’s wealth;

Send out Thy light to ban­ish

The sha­dows of the shame

Till all the ci­vic vir­tues shine

Around our ci­ty’s name.

A com­mon­weal of bro­thers

United

great and small

Upon our ban­ner bla­zoned be

The char­ter

Each for all!

Nor let us cease from bat­tle

Nor wea­ry sheathe the sword

Until this ci­ty is be­come

The ci­ty of the Lord.