The Coming American

From USAFA Folklore

"The Coming American" is a poem written by Sam Walter Foss in 1894. Fourth class cadets were required to memorize the poem from Contrails, and a portion of the poem appeared on the Bring Me Men Ramp.

[edit] One Version as published in Contrails:

Bring me men to match my mountains;

Bring me men to match my plains, --

Men with empires in their purpose,

And new eras in their brains.

Bring me men to match my praries,

Men to match my inland seas,

Men whose thought shall pave a highway

Up to ampler destinies;

Pioneers to clear Thought's marshlands,

And to cleanse old Error's fen;

Bring me men to match my mountains --

Bring me men!

Bring me men to match my forests,

Strong to fight the storm and blast,

Branching toward the skyey future,

Rooted in the fertile past.

Bring me men to match my valleys,

Tolerant of sun and snow,

Men within whose fruitful purpose

Time's consummate blooms shall grow.

Men to tame the tigerish instincts

Of the lair and cave and den,

Cleans the dragon slime of Nature --

Bring me men!

Bring me men to match my rivers,

Continent cleavers, flowing free,

Drawn by the eternal madness

To be mingled with the sea;

Men of oceanic impulse,

Men whose moral currents sweep

Toward the wide-enfolding ocean

Of an undiscovered deep;

Men who feel the strong pulsation

Of the Central Sea, and then

Time their currents to its earth throb --

Bring me men!

[edit] Alternate version (Also published in Contrails)

Bring me men to match my mountains,

Bring me men to match my plains;

Men to chart a starry empire,

Men to make celestial claims.

Bring me men to match my prairies,

Men to match my inland seas;

Men to sail beyond my oceans,

Reaching for the galaxies.

These are men to build a nation,

Join the mountains to the sky;

Men of faith and inspiration,

Bring me men, bring me men, bring me men!

Bring me men to match my forests,

Bring me men to match my shore;

Men to guard the mighty ramparts,

Men to stand at freedom's door.

Bring me men to match my mountains,

Men to match their majesty,

Men to climb beyond their summits,

Searching for their destiny.

These are men to build a nation,

Join the mountains to the sky,

Men of faith and inspiration,

Bring me men, bring me men, bring me men!