Stony the road we trod

Bitter the chast’ning rod,

Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;

Yet with a steady beat

Have not our weary feet

Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?

We have come over a way that with tears has been watered

We have come, treading our path thro’ the blood of the slaughtered

Out from the gloomy pasty, till now we stand at last

Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast


Using Textual Evidence To Support Your Answer, What Can You Infer About The Journey Forward From The "dark past"?