 | Miami Woods : a golden wedding and other poems |  |
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Radicálos.
In the far and fading ages
Of the younger days of earth,
When man's aspirations quicken'd,
And his passions had their birth—
When first paled his glorious beauty,
And his heart first knew unrest,
As he yielded to the tempter
That inflamed and fill'd his breast—
When the Voice that was in Eden
Echoed through his startled soul,
And he heard rebuking anthems
Through the heavenly arches roll—
When he fell from the high promise
Of his being's blessèd morn,
To a night of doubt and struggle—
Radicálos then was born.
Of the younger days of earth,
When man's aspirations quicken'd,
And his passions had their birth—
When first paled his glorious beauty,
And his heart first knew unrest,
As he yielded to the tempter
That inflamed and fill'd his breast—
When the Voice that was in Eden
Echoed through his startled soul,
And he heard rebuking anthems
Through the heavenly arches roll—
When he fell from the high promise
Of his being's blessèd morn,
To a night of doubt and struggle—
Radicálos then was born.
Through the ages long and dreary
That since then have dawn'd on earth,
Man has had but feeble glimpses
Of the glory of his birth:
Catching these, his soul, aspiring
To its morning light again,
Hard has upward toil'd, and often
Fill'd with hope, but still in vain.
Many a blessèd song comes stealing
Downward from the Eden aisles,
Whence the light of heavenliest beauty
Still upon the banish'd smiles;
But the harmonies are broken
Of each sounding choral hymn,
And the gloom that vails his spirit
Makes e'en heavenly splendor dim.
That since then have dawn'd on earth,
Man has had but feeble glimpses
Of the glory of his birth:
Catching these, his soul, aspiring
To its morning light again,
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Fill'd with hope, but still in vain.
Many a blessèd song comes stealing
Downward from the Eden aisles,
Whence the light of heavenliest beauty
Still upon the banish'd smiles;
But the harmonies are broken
Of each sounding choral hymn,
And the gloom that vails his spirit
Makes e'en heavenly splendor dim.
Faint revealings, thwarted hopings,
Wearying struggles, day by day:—
So the long and dreary ages
Of his life have worn away.
War, and rapine, and oppression,
Early in his course he found—
Brother against brother striving—
By the few the many bound.
And in patience,and in meekness,
To the galling chain resign'd,
Thus the fettered limbs have rested—
Thus hath slept the darkened mind.
But it wakens now!—it flashes
Like the lightning ere the rain;
And those limbs grow strong!—when ready,
They can rend the mightiest chain.
Wearying struggles, day by day:—
So the long and dreary ages
Of his life have worn away.
War, and rapine, and oppression,
Early in his course he found—
Brother against brother striving—
By the few the many bound.
And in patience,and in meekness,
To the galling chain resign'd,
Thus the fettered limbs have rested—
Thus hath slept the darkened mind.
But it wakens now!—it flashes
Like the lightning ere the rain;
And those limbs grow strong!—when ready,
They can rend the mightiest chain.
190
Through the slow and stately marches
Of the centuries sublime,
Radicálos hath been strengthening
For the noblest work of Time;
And he comes upon the Present
Like a god in look and mien,
With composure high surveying
All the tumult of the scene:
Where obey the fettered millions;
Where command the fettering few;
Where the chain of wrong is forging,
With its red links hid from view;
And he standeth by the peasant,
And he standeth by the lord,
And he shouts “Your rights are equal!”
Till earth startles at the word.
Of the centuries sublime,
Radicálos hath been strengthening
For the noblest work of Time;
And he comes upon the Present
Like a god in look and mien,
With composure high surveying
All the tumult of the scene:
Where obey the fettered millions;
Where command the fettering few;
Where the chain of wrong is forging,
With its red links hid from view;
And he standeth by the peasant,
And he standeth by the lord,
And he shouts “Your rights are equal!”
Till earth startles at the word.
He hath seen the record written,
From the primal morn of man,
In the blood of battling nations
O'er ensanguined plains that ran;
In the tears of the deluded,
In the sweat of the oppress'd
From Ind's farthest peopled borders
To the new worlds of the West.
And he cometh with deliverance!
And his might shall soon be known,
Where the wrong'd rise up for justice,
And the wrongers lie o'erthrown.
From the primal morn of man,
In the blood of battling nations
O'er ensanguined plains that ran;
In the tears of the deluded,
In the sweat of the oppress'd
From Ind's farthest peopled borders
To the new worlds of the West.
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And his might shall soon be known,
Where the wrong'd rise up for justice,
And the wrongers lie o'erthrown.
Woe! the pride that then shall scorn him:
He will bring it fitly low!
Woe! the arm that shall oppose him:
He will cleave it at a blow!
Woe! the hosts that shall beset him:
He will scatter them abroad!
He will strike them down forever!
Radicálos is of God.
He will bring it fitly low!
Woe! the arm that shall oppose him:
He will cleave it at a blow!
Woe! the hosts that shall beset him:
He will scatter them abroad!
He will strike them down forever!
Radicálos is of God.
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