Arc 3: That Bright Crown

What makes a nation’s pillars high
And its foundations strong?
What makes it mighty to defy
The foes that round it throng?

It is not gold. Its kingdoms grand
Go down in battle shock;
Its shafts are laid on sinking sand,
Not on abiding rock.

Is it the sword? Ask the red dust
Of empires passed away;
The blood has turned their stones to rust,
Their glory to decay.

And is it pride? Ah, that bright crown
Has seemed to nations sweet;
But God has struck its luster down
In ashes at his feet.

Not gold but only men can make
A people great and strong;
Men who for truth and honor’s sake
Stand fast and suffer long.

Brave men who work while others sleep,
Who dare while others fly…
They build a nation’s pillars deep
And lift them to the sky.

     -William Ralph Emerson, 1847

Act 1: Mighty to Defy

Scenes 1-4, Scenes 5-7
Scenes 8-9, Scenes 10-12, Scenes 13-15, Scenes 16-17
Scenes 18-20, Scenes 21-23
Intermission (Scenes 1-4)

Act 2: Sinking Sand

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4,
Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12
Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15
Intermission

Act 3: Glory to Decay

Chapter 1, Chapter 2
Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6
Chapter 7, Chapter 8
Intermission

Intermission | Act 1 | Next Chapter

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