India and the United States have largely shared friendly relations not just in contemporary times. The east-to-west relation has stood the test of time and gestures like Swami Vivekananda%u2019s poem written for the United States Fourth of July celebration are likely to be attributed for it.
The short poem was written by Swami Vivekananda after he visited the United States in 1893 and travelled through the country, exploring it thoroughly. He visited the country to represent both Hinduism and India at the Parliament of World Religions, according to reports from Times Now.
The poem, which is titled %u2018To the Fourth of July%u2019, was written by Swami Vivekananda exactly four years before he died.
TO THE FOURTH OF JULY
Behold, the dark clouds melt away,
That gathered thick at night, and hung
So like a gloomy pall above the earth!
Before thy magic touch, the world
Awakes. The birds in chorus sing.
The flowers raise their star-like crowns%u2014
Dew-set, and wave thee welcome fair.
The lakes are opening wide in love
Their hundred thousand lotus-eyes
To welcome thee, with all their depth.
All hail to thee, thou Lord of Light!
A welcome new to thee, today,
O Sun! Today thou sheddest Liberty!
Bethink thee how the world did wait,
And search for thee, through time and clime.
Some gave up home and love of friends,
And went in quest of thee, self-banished,
Through dreary oceans, through primeval forests,
Each step a struggle for their life or death;
Then came the day when work bore fruit,
And worship, love, and sacrifice,
Fulfilled, accepted, and complete.
Then thou, propitious, rose to shed
The light of Freedom on mankind.
Move on, O Lord, in thy resistless path!
Till thy high noon o’erspreads the world.
Till every land reflects thy light,
Till men and women, with uplifted head,
Behold their shackles broken, and
Know, in springing joy, their life renewed!
