Yet its secret it can not keep;
It tells it awake, or asleep,
It tells it to all who will heed,
And he who runs may read.
The need of the world I know.

I know the need of the world,
When it boasts of its wealth the loudest,
When it flaunts it in all men's eyes,
When its mien is the gayest and proudest.
Oh! ever it lies--it lies,
For the sound of its laughter dies
In a sob and a smothered moan,
And it weeps when it sits alone.
The need of the world I know.

I know the need of the world.
When the earth shakes under the tread
Of men who march to the fight,
When rivers with blood are red
And there is no law but might,
And the wrong way seems the right;
When he who slaughters the most
Is all men's pride and boast.
The need of the world I know.

I know the need of the world.
When it babbles of gold and fame,
It is only to lead us astray
From the thing that it dare not name,