From ages of dust and burdens untold,
It rose where countless sorrows unfold,
Born to cleanse what centuries stained,
A land where fear and silence reigned.
Where steps were feared and voices chained,
Where hearts were broken, hope restrained,
Where sitting, standing, speaking free
Became a distant memory.
From wounds of long oppression came,
A cry no ruler now could tame,
Disturbing thrones that long had stood,
Built on injustice, not the common good.
A voice for those left weak and small,
Whose labour lifted one and all,
While parasites of privilege fed
On dreams the struggling people bled.
It walks to challenge masks of might,
To bring concealed injustice into light,
To cleanse the greed that shadows hold,
Where shifting hearts trade truth for gold.
It walks beside the long oppressed,
To give the weary hope and rest,
Its rising stirs a widening sea,
That shakes the blades of tyranny.