Liberty Poem for Asia, Africa, Europe, America, Australia, Cuba, and the Archipelagoes of the Sea.
21 — Liberty Poem for Asia, Africa, Europe, America, Australia, Cuba, and The Archipelagoes of the Sea.
COURAGE! my brother or my sister! Keep on! Liberty is to be subserved, what-ever occurs; That is nothing, that is quelled by one or two fail-
ures, or any number of failures, Or by the indifference or ingratitude of the
people, Or the show of the tushes of power—soldiers,
cannon, penal statutes. What we believe in waits latent forever through
Asia, Africa, Europe, America, Australia,
Cuba, and all the islands and archipelagoes
of the sea; What we believe in invites no one, promises
nothing, sits in calmness and light, is positive
and composed, knows no discouragement, Waits patiently its time—a year—a century —
a hundred centuries. [ begin page 269 ]
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The battle rages with many a loud alarm and frequent advance and retreat, The infidel triumphs—or supposes he triumphs, The prison, scaffold, garrote, hand-cuffs, iron neck-
lace and anklet, lead-balls, do their work, The named and unnamed heroes pass to other
spheres, The great speakers and writers are exiled—they
lie sick in distant lands, The cause is asleep—the strong throats are
choked with their own blood, The young men drop their eye-lashes toward the
ground when they meet, But for all this, liberty has not gone out of the
place, nor the infidel entered into pos-
session. When liberty goes out of a place, it is not the
first to go, nor the second or third to go, It waits for all the rest to go—it is the last. When there are no more memories of the lovers
of the whole of the nations of the world, The lovers' names scouted in the public gatherings
by the lips of the orators, Boys not christened after them, but christened
after traitors and murderers instead, Laws for slaves sweet to the taste of people —
the slave-hunt acknowledged, [ begin page 270 ]
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You or I walking abroad upon the earth, elated at the sight of slaves, no matter who they
are, And when all life and all the souls of men and
women are discharged from any part of the
earth, Then shall the instinct of liberty be discharged
from that part of the earth, Then shall the infidel and the tyrant come into
possession.