“Hymn to Freedom” Sheet Music (pdf).
“Hymn to Freedom” Karaoke (midi with lyrics).
Lyrics: James Connolly.
Tune: “The Holy City.”
Here at her altar kneeling,
Sweet Freedom we adore,
And swear to hold her honor
As sacred as of yore
Did all her holy martyrs,
When, recking life as naught,
They went to death to guard the faith
Her lore to man had brought.
They went to death to guard the faith
Her lore to man had brought.
O, Freedom, O, Freedom,
Thy worshippers are we,
Here kneeling, our allegiance,
We render unto thee.
And as our fathers prayed to see
The glories of her face,
We, kneeling at her altar,
Beseech her longed-for grace,
She needs no gory sacrifice
Laid on her altar stones,
Our pilgrimage of poverty
For all our faults atones.
Our pilgrimage of poverty
For all our faults atones.
O, Freedom, O, Freedom,
Thy worshippers are we,
Here, kneeling, our allegiance,
We render unto thee.
She comes not clothed in majesty,
No terrors in her tone,
Her priesthood is of Labor,
Her service is our own.
To toil, and pain, and penury,
Wherever manhood dwells,
She speaks, and lo, responsive,
The heart of Labor swells.
She builds her altar in our hearts,
Her ritual in our lives,
And they who yield her service
Need not the grace that shines.
And they who yield her service
Need not the grace that shines.
O, Freedom, O, Freedom,
Thy worshippers are we,
Here, kneeling, our allegiance,
We render unto thee.
Here, kneeling, our allegiance,
We render unto thee.