Once there was a famous nation
⁠With a long and glorious past:
Very splendid was its station,
⁠And its territory vast.
It had won the approbation,
The applause and admiration
Of the states who'd had occasion
In a time of tribulation
And of disorganisation
Not to mention degradation,
And profound humiliation,
⁠To observe it standing fast
Without any trepidation,
Or a sign of vacillation,
Firm and faithful to the last.

Came a time of dire distraction,
⁠Full of terror and despair,
When a delicate transaction
⁠Called for unexampled care;
But the people were directed,
Both the well and ill-affected,
To a wholly unexpected