The Iron Bar

The consecration of a Chief Was a solemn state of function That was brought down from old Egypt By the clans of the Akans. With your cousins the Ashantis and Fantis, With your cousins the Akims, You have observed the ceremonies Which justify the pride of an old race. Nana, the spiritual exponent of an ancient dynasty, You have been twice ritualized; You have been twice washed in the Nile of the Mountains; Your person and mind are sacred with blessings from ancestral throne rooms. In the grove of departed Kings, In sincerity and strength, You have made declarations To uphold your country's rights. Though faith has juggled with you, None can injure you, a priest of the soul, When your ‘centre’ is on guard. Your country adores your tenacity. You are the great ‘IRON BAR’ of our parable: ‘Where the iron bar is laid, it is there laid for reason’. The iron bar is the King builder. The girder that strengthens walls. Your strength is as great as that of the iron bar Time has annealed your mind To weld great walls together - The great walls of your enlightened face. Adonten, Nifa, Benkum, Kyidom and Gyase, All are brimful of intelligence. Only a Solomon can govern Solomons And bring unity and progress unto them. Nana, while you and your processors have been occupied in State affairs, for the welfare of your people, Your subjects have proved themselves industrious, By fostering the cocoa tree. One cocoa-pod from abroad in the hands of your intelligent farmers, Has raised the millions of trees and the thousands of men to affluence and respect. Glancing at your nation, we find it replete with civility; With a language compatible to its good manners; One that can read and write in its own tongue; A Christian nation, indeed, an adorable nation. With such material in your hands, A written propaganda on useful industrial topics Could reach most for digestion And ensure desirable ends. We must not forget your women. With cultivated habits, They are graceful in their movements and speech, And most of them are also educated. Comely and faithful, with a knowledge of moral vows. They are great mothers of a great country. All that your women do meets with approbation, Even to their soft voice.