Summary

Williams begins by asserting that a collective "we" has "memorized America" (1). He says that we have sung songs and said ceremonious words to commemorate those who came before us, whom he calls the "great and all the anonymous dead" (6). But he inquires where we will go from here, asking his audience how we will fulfill the ideals and aspirations on which the country was founded.

Williams asks how anyone can know what the future hold besides those who will occupy it as their present – the children of America. He compares America's future to a garden full of "waving hands" and "flowering faces" that are rarely organized in a neat fashion (16-17). He argues that America is changing and is on the cusp of a bright future, but that we cannot let negative influences replace the ideals for which America traditionally stood: unity, opportunity, justice...