George Washington (1732-1799)

A divinely inspired dream, daring and desperate;
A surprise that made history:
A farmer’s son founds the New World.
“Inferior endowment from nature,” he thought of himself.
But the Divine made him
His efficient instrument.
High character and majestic will
Powerfully blended with courage and capacity:
Thus stood forth the Man of the Hour,
The Man of Destiny, the Man of God.
And from his mighty dream mightily executed
Burst forth a new free world,
Destined to be the hope and defence
Of more free worlds to be.
Victory in the War of Independence:
England lost to her own offspring.
England won for herself a mightier friend.
A new era heralded,
A new shattering blow
Struck at man’s domination over man:
Independence the first step to unity,
And unity, one Truth of God.
George Washington, first to embody
America’s hope,
First in inspiration, first in confidence,
First in war, first in victory,
First in conquering the heart of his Nation,
First to envisage a federation of states,
Single, powerful, united, whole.