 | The Stranger at the Gate |  |
THE RED WIND COMES!
TOO long mere words have thralled us. Let us think!
Oh ponder, are we "free and equal" yet?
That July bombast, writ with blood for ink,
Is blurred with floods of unavailing sweat!
Oh ponder, are we "free and equal" yet?
That July bombast, writ with blood for ink,
Is blurred with floods of unavailing sweat!
An empty sound we won from Royal George!
Yea, till the last great fight of all is won,
A sentimental show was Valley Forge,
A mawkish, tawdry farce was Lexington!
Yea, till the last great fight of all is won,
A sentimental show was Valley Forge,
A mawkish, tawdry farce was Lexington!
No longer blindfold Justice reigns; but leers
A barefaced, venal strumpet in her stead!
The stolen harvests of a hundred years
Are lighter than a stolen loaf of bread!
A barefaced, venal strumpet in her stead!
The stolen harvests of a hundred years
Are lighter than a stolen loaf of bread!
O pious Nation, holding God in awe,
Where sacred human rights are duly priced!
Where men are beggared in the name of Law,
Where alms are given in the name of Christ!
Where sacred human rights are duly priced!
Where men are beggared in the name of Law,
Where alms are given in the name of Christ!
The Country of the Free?—O wretched lie!
The Country of the Brave?—Yea, let it be!
One more good fight, O Brothers, ere we die,
And this shall be the Country of the Free!
The Country of the Brave?—Yea, let it be!
One more good fight, O Brothers, ere we die,
And this shall be the Country of the Free!
65
What! Are we cowards? Are we doting fools?
Who built the cities, fructified the lands?
We make and use, but do we own the tools?
Who robbed us of the product of our hands?
Who built the cities, fructified the lands?
We make and use, but do we own the tools?
Who robbed us of the product of our hands?
A tiger-hearted Tyrant crowned with Law,
Whose flesh is custom and whose soul is greed!
Ubiquitous, a nothing clothed in awe,
We sweat for him and bleed!
Whose flesh is custom and whose soul is greed!
Ubiquitous, a nothing clothed in awe,
We sweat for him and bleed!
Religion follows proudly in his train!
Daft Freedom raves her fealty at his side!
Surviving kingship, he eludes the vain,
Misguided dagger of the regicide!
Daft Freedom raves her fealty at his side!
Surviving kingship, he eludes the vain,
Misguided dagger of the regicide!
Yea, and we serve this Insult to our God!
Gnawing our crusts, we render Caesar toll!
We labor with the back beneath his rod,
His shackles on the soul!
Gnawing our crusts, we render Caesar toll!
We labor with the back beneath his rod,
His shackles on the soul!
He is a System—wrought for human hogs!
So long as we shall hug a hoary Lie,
And gulp the vocal swill of demagogues,
The Fat shall rule the sty!
So long as we shall hug a hoary Lie,
And gulp the vocal swill of demagogues,
The Fat shall rule the sty!
Behold potential plenty for us all!
Behold the pauper and the plutocrat!
Behold the signs prophetic of thy fall,
O Dynast of the Fat!
Behold the pauper and the plutocrat!
Behold the signs prophetic of thy fall,
O Dynast of the Fat!
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Lo, even now the haunting, spectral scrawl!
Lo, even now the beat of hidden wings!
The ghosts of millions throng thy banquet-hall,
O guiltiest and last of all the kings!
Lo, even now the beat of hidden wings!
The ghosts of millions throng thy banquet-hall,
O guiltiest and last of all the kings!
Beware the Furies stirring in the gloom!
They mutter from the mines, the mills, the slums!
No lies shall stay or mitigate thy doom—
The Red Wind comes!
They mutter from the mines, the mills, the slums!
No lies shall stay or mitigate thy doom—
The Red Wind comes!
| The Stranger at the Gate | |