Australian Federation (Sonnet)

William Gay

FROM all division let our land be free,
   For God has made her one: complete she lies
   Within the unbroken circle of the skies,
And round her indivisible the sea
Breaks on her single shore; while only we,
   Her foster children, bound with sacred ties
   Of one dear blood, one storied enterprise,
Are negligent of her integrity.—
Her seamless garment, at great Mammon’s nod,
   With hands unfilial we have basely rent,
   With petty variance our souls are spent,
And ancient kinship underfoot is trod:
   O let us rise, united, penitent,
And be one people,—mighty, serving God!