The Century of Change_(1910_1994)
735 Words
I. The New Nation
The Union stood, its laws aligned,
Four lands together, fate entwined.
The Afrikaner, proud and keen,
Saw hope arise where once there had been
A people scarred by war and loss,
Yet now a nation, bearing a cross.
Their farms, their schools, their churches tall,
Reflected pride through every hall.
Though British rule still touched their fate,
The Afrikaner would not abate.
In parliaments, in fields of grain,
They worked to heal their people’s pain.
By steadfast hand and faith in God,
They tilled the earth, they plowed the sod.
Each generation learned from the past,
To guard their soil, their faith to last.
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II. The Fires of Modernity
The world grew fast, new cities rose,
Steel rails stretched where the river flows.
Factories hummed, the mines dug deep,
Yet Afrikaner hearts their vigil keep.
For change, though swift, could not erase
The legacy of land and place.
Their language, culture, and creed,
Were anchors strong in every need.
They built their schools, their farms, their towns,
They wore their faith like golden crowns.
The Dutch Reformed Church stood firm,
Through every storm, through every term.
The Voortrekker spirit lingered still,
In every heart, in every hill.
Though cities are called modern lights,
They cherished the veldt and winter nights.
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III. The Shadow of War
When Europe’s fires again were lit,
The Afrikaner could not omit
Their sons and daughters from the fray,
In distant lands where cannons play.
Though neutral oft, their hearts were torn,
Between the old wounds and the new morn.
Yet still they labored, still they prayed,
Their faith is a shield through war’s cascade.
The South African army was formed,
Its Afrikaner spirit warmed.
In trenches deep, in battle’s roar,
They faced the test of fate once more.
And though the world had grown immense,
Their courage matched the challenge's tension.
Through pain and loss, through grief and strife,
They carried on their steadfast life.
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IV. Politics and Power
By nineteen thirty, winds had changed,
And Afrikaner power rearranged.
The National Party rose to lead,
Promising to serve their need.
Through parliament and careful law,
They sought to guard both faith and flaw.
The Great Depression’s bitter hand
Touched Afrikaner farm and land.
Yet out of hardship, unity grew,
A people’s voice, determined, true.
They built cooperatives, schools, and trade,
They live by self-reliance.
The language flourished, Afrikaanse pride,
And culture thrived on every side.
They told their tales, they sang their songs,
Of veldt and faith where heart belongs.
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V. a*******d and Division
By nineteen forty-eight arose
A policy to deeply impose
Segregation, land, and law,
Dividing people, raw and raw.
The Afrikaner, in complex sway,
Saw power, fear, and God’s own way.
Their hearts were torn, their minds contrived,
To hold their people, keep them alive.
The cities grew, the mines still called,
The world outside both judged and stalled.
Yet Afrikaner culture, tight and strong,
Bore through the decades, carried along.
Their faith, their schools, their Dutch Reformed,
Protected all that they had formed.
Though critics raged and freedom pressed,
They held their land, their faith, their rest.
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VI. Struggle and Reflection
Through the sixties, seventies, times of strain,
The Afrikaner faced both loss and gain.
Resistance rose, the people clashed,
And history’s currents fiercely thrashed.
Yet through the trials, a steadfast hand,
Guided hearts across the land.
In every church, in every home,
They prayed for peace, no more to roam.
The years of change, relentless, wide,
Taught Afrikaners to stand with pride.
To value faith, to honor kin,
To know where they had always been.
Though the world demanded new reform,
Their soul persisted, quiet, warm.
A century of fire and frost,
Was paid in hope, and never lost.
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VII. The Dawn of a New Era
By nineteen ninety-four, the day,
Arrived to end the long, harsh sway
Of laws that bound and rules that chained,
And ushered in a land unfeigned.
The Afrikaner, cautious, proud,
Observed the nation’s changing shroud.
Yet still they held their faith intact,
Their language, culture, and their pact.
The veldt, the farms, the hills, the sky,
Reminded them that none can die
Who hold their history, deep and true,
And pass it on to children anew.
Though South Africa would redefine
Its path, its rule, its grand design,
The Afrikaner soul, both fierce and free,
Would live, endure, eternally.
- Writer
