The maidens gathered strength and grace / And presence, lordlier than before.

He stood the furious foe.

Today many of our newcomers are from Mexico and Puerto Rico. We sometimes forget that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens by birth and therefore cannot be considered immigrants. Nonetheless, they often receive the same discriminatory treatment and opprobrium that were faced by other waves of newcomers. The same things are said today of Puerto Ricans and Mexicans that were once said of Irish, Italians, Germans and Jews: “They’ll never adjust; they can’t learn the language; they won’t be absorbed.”

But not for the sun-burst on high, And not for the rose-tinting ray, But for something far holier, I Will bless the sweet coming of May.