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157
THE PHILIPPINE PURCHASE
We that believed thee and loved thee, despite multitudinous errors,
Can we forgive, O Republic, thy deep degradation to-day?
Thou that hast boasted of freedom from talons of tyranny wrested,
Thou to turn tyrant thyself, and their freedom from others despoil!
Can we forgive, O Republic, thy deep degradation to-day?
Thou that hast boasted of freedom from talons of tyranny wrested,
Thou to turn tyrant thyself, and their freedom from others despoil!
Thus canst thou mock thine own valour, and all the chill hand-clasps of anguish
There in that blaze of rebellion whence England recoiled with fatigue?
Was it for this that thy loathing the rancours of slavery slaughtered?
Thus canst thou waste thine Antietam? Thy Gettysburg squander disfamed?
There in that blaze of rebellion whence England recoiled with fatigue?
Was it for this that thy loathing the rancours of slavery slaughtered?
Thus canst thou waste thine Antietam? Thy Gettysburg squander disfamed?
Once through the harp of thine honour great winds of democracy wandered,
Straining to thunders aeolian the strength of its eloquent strings.
Why unto earth hast thou flung it and shattered the might of its music?
Why from the oak of its framework hast lighted the bonfires of greed?
Straining to thunders aeolian the strength of its eloquent strings.
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Why from the oak of its framework hast lighted the bonfires of greed?
Spirits of Washington, Lincoln, and throngs of thy patriot helpers,
Quicken their dust at thine outrage and scan thee with spectral rebuke;
Faithless Republic, thou quenchest the stars that have burned on thy banners,
Leaving the stripes but as emblems of scorn that thy body should bear!
Quicken their dust at thine outrage and scan thee with spectral rebuke;
Faithless Republic, thou quenchest the stars that have burned on thy banners,
Leaving the stripes but as emblems of scorn that thy body should bear!
Thou that for safeguard and shelter from stains of monarchial stigmas
Fledst where new skies might envault thee, new breezes pour balm on thy breast,
Thou to dare envy the ravage of empire that once thou contemnedst,
Craving with terrible famine thine own Finlands, Polands, and Cretes!
Fledst where new skies might envault thee, new breezes pour balm on thy breast,
Thou to dare envy the ravage of empire that once thou contemnedst,
Craving with terrible famine thine own Finlands, Polands, and Cretes!
Thou that hast loomed for thy lovers in wisdom's large warless aloofness,
Thou that wert so statuesquely the world's one republic erewhile,
Thou to stretch arms across ocean, where far-away Philippines cluster,
Babbling the shibboleths ancient of ‘destiny,’ ‘progress’ and ‘trade’!
Thou that wert so statuesquely the world's one republic erewhile,
Thou to stretch arms across ocean, where far-away Philippines cluster,
Babbling the shibboleths ancient of ‘destiny,’ ‘progress’ and ‘trade’!
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Name it by what name thou choosest—protectiveness, guidance, or pity,
Suzerainty's resolute vigil, fraternity's bountiful aid;
Lust for the lucre of conquest and arrogance trampling the vanquished—
These are the names that thy barter should glare with while truth remains truth.
Suzerainty's resolute vigil, fraternity's bountiful aid;
Lust for the lucre of conquest and arrogance trampling the vanquished—
These are the names that thy barter should glare with while truth remains truth.
Ah, the old story—we know it! From king-beguiled priest-ridden Europe,
On through the ages it echoes: the weak overswept by the strong—
Vultures of plunder and cunning, in ‘civilisation's’ false plumage,
Fierce for the signs to dismantle its flesh from slain liberty's bones!
On through the ages it echoes: the weak overswept by the strong—
Vultures of plunder and cunning, in ‘civilisation's’ false plumage,
Fierce for the signs to dismantle its flesh from slain liberty's bones!
1901.
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