The Lone Star Forever

Verse 1

When Freedom raised her glowing form
On Montserrado’s verdant height,
She set within the dome of night,
-Midst lowering skies and thunderstorm,-
The star of Liberty!
And seizing from the waking morn,
Its burnished shield of golden flame,
She lifted it in her proud name,
And roused a nation long forlorn,
To nobler destiny!


Chorus

The lone star forever,
The lone star forever!
O long may it float o’er land and o’er seas!
Desert it, no never!
Uphold it, forever!
O shout for the lone star’d banner — all hail!

Verse 2

Then speeding in her course along
The broad Atlantic’s golden strand,
She woke reverb’rant through the land
A nation’s loud triumphant song,
The song of Liberty!
And o’er Liberia’s alter fires
She raised the lone-starred flag unfurled
Proclaiming to an expectant world
The birth of Afric’s sons and sires
The birth of Liberty

Chorus

The lone star forever,
The lone star forever!
O long may it float
O’er land and o’er seas!
Desert it, no never!
Uphold it, forever!
O shout for the lone star’d banner — all hail!

Verse 3

Then forward sons of freedom March
Defend the sacred heritage,
The nation call from age to age
Where’re it sounds ‘neath heaven’s arch
Wherever foes assail
Be ever ready to obey
‘Gainst treason and rebellion’s front
‘Gainst foul aggression in the brunt
Of battle lay the hero’s way
All hail Lone Star all hail!

Chorus

The lone star forever,
The lone star forever!
O long may it float
O’er land and o’er seas!
Desert it, no never!
Uphold it, forever!
O shout for the lone star’d banner — all hail!

The music and lyrics of Liberia’s patriotic song were written by 19 year-old Edwin Barclay in 1909. He later became the nation’s 18th president in 1930.

Sources

Barclay, Edwin J. 1882-1955. Leaves from Love’s Garden and Random Rhymes. Monrovia, Liberia: College of West Africa press, 1910. Print.

Greene, Graham. Journey Without Maps. London: William Heinemann, 1936. Print.

Guannu, Joseph S. Liberian Civics. Monrovia: Herald Publishing, 2004. Print.

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