 | Leaves of grass. |  |
TURN O LIBERTAD.
TURN, O Libertad, no more doubting;
Turn from lands retrospective, recording proofs of the past;
From the singers that sing the trailing glories of the past;
From the chants of the feudal world — the triumphs of kings, slavery, caste;
Turn to the world, the triumphs reserv'd and to come — give up that backward world;
Leave to the singers of hitherto — give them the trailing past:
But what remains, remains for singers for you — wars to come are for you;
(Lo! how the wars of the past have duly inured to you — and the wars of the present shall also inure:)
— Then turn, and be not alarm'd, O Libertad — turn your undying face,
To where the future, greater than all the past,
Is swiftly, surely preparing for you.
Turn from lands retrospective, recording proofs of the past;
From the singers that sing the trailing glories of the past;
From the chants of the feudal world — the triumphs of kings, slavery, caste;
Turn to the world, the triumphs reserv'd and to come — give up that backward world;
Leave to the singers of hitherto — give them the trailing past:
But what remains, remains for singers for you — wars to come are for you;
(Lo! how the wars of the past have duly inured to you — and the wars of the present shall also inure:)
— Then turn, and be not alarm'd, O Libertad — turn your undying face,
To where the future, greater than all the past,
Is swiftly, surely preparing for you.
| Leaves of grass. | |