Leaves of Grass (1856)
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| 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. |
)
|
| 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, |
)
|
| 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. |