University of Virginia Library

1  SUDDENLY, out of its stale and drowsy lair, the lair      of slaves,
Like lightning it le'pt forth, half startled at itself,
Its feet upon the ashes and the rags — its hands tight      to the throats of kings.
2  O hope and faith!
O aching close of exiled patriots' lives!
O many a sicken'd heart!
Turn back unto this day, and make yourselves afresh.
3  And you, paid to defile the People! you liars,      mark!
Not for numberless agonies, murders, lusts,
For court thieving in its manifold mean forms, worm-     ing from his simplicity the poor man's wages,
For many a promise sworn by royal lips, and broken,      and laugh'd at in the breaking,
Then in their power, not for all these did the blow.      strike revenge, or the heads of the nobles fall;
The People scorn'd the ferocity of kings.
4  But the sweetness of mercy brew'd bitter destruc-     tion, and the frighten'd rulers come back;
Each comes in state with his train — hangman, priest,      tax-gatherer,
Soldier, lawyer, lord, jailer, and sycophant.
5  Yet behind all, lowering, stealing — lo, a Shape,
Vague as the night, draped interminably, head, front      and form, in scarlet folds,
Whose face and eyes none may see,
Out of its robes only this — the red robes, lifted by the      arm,
One finger, crook'd, pointed high over the top, like      the head of a snake appears.
6  Meanwhile, corpses lie in new-made graves — bloody      corpses of young men;
The rope of the gibbet hangs heavily, the bullets of      princes are flying, the creatures of power laugh      aloud,
And all these things bear fruits — and they are good.
7  Those corpses of young men,
Those martyrs that hang from the gibbets — those      hearts pierc'd by the gray lead,
Cold and motionless as they seem, live elsewhere with      unslaughter'd vitality.
8  They live in other young men, O kings!
They live in brothers, again ready to defy you!
They were purified by death — they were taught and      exalted.
9  Not a grave of the murder'd for freedom, but grows      seed for freedom, in its turn to bear seed,
Which the winds carry afar and re-sow, and the rains      and the snows nourish.
10  Not a disembodied spirit can the weapons of tyrants      let loose,
But it stalks invisibly over the earth, whispering,      counseling, cautioning.
11  Liberty! let others despair of you! I never despair      of you.
12  Is the house shut? Is the master away?
Nevertheless, be ready — be not weary of watching;
He will soon return — his messengers come anon.