The Peace Arch
Blanche E. Holt Murison
1940

This poem, lightly edited, was presented at a Peace Arch State Park rally entitled, “After the War, What?” Sponsored by the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, the rally was held Sunday afternoon, June 2, 1940.

There is an Arch of Peace that proudly stands
With flowers as fortress and a road that wends
To fields and gardens and the homes of friends.
There is an Arch of Peace that proudly stands,
An open gate between two kindly lands.

Founded on a century’s accord
And neighborly goodwill and intercourse,
Loving the same traditions at their source.
Founded on a century’s accord,
With friendship as the only overlord.

There is an Arch of Peace where songs are sung,
Where children’s happy voices rise like birds
In melodies that need no special words.
There is an Arch of Peace where songs are sung
To the same tune in the same mother tongue.

The undefended frontier through which streams
The common ground that friendly people know;
Three thousand miles where travelers’ joy may grow.
The undefended frontier through which streams
A shining cavalcade of splendid dreams.

God bless our Arch of Peace where brethren dwell
In bonds of common good and common zeal,
Acknowledging the law of common weal.
God bless our Arch of Peace where brethren dwell
With friendship as the only sentinel.