Don Francia.note
The locusts wasted Paraguay,The Guachos sink in dumb despair;
But what are such poor souls as they?
Don Francia is there!
He bids them sow the earth again,
The earth obeys the double call;
Thenceforth two yearly crops of grain
Before the sickle fall.
― 176 ―
Bow not, brave heart, beneath thy loss,
But boldly tread thy trouble down,
And that which first appeared a cross,
Shall prove at last a crown!