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Leaves of Grass (1871-72)
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TO A FOIL'D EUROPEAN REVOLUTIONAIRE.
1
1 COURAGE yet! my brother or my sister! |
Keep on! Liberty is to be subserv'd, whatever occurs; |
That is nothing, that is quell'd by one or two failures,
or any number of failures,
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Or by the indifference or ingratitude of the people, or
by any unfaithfulness,
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Or the show of the tushes of power, soldiers, cannon,
penal statutes.
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2 Revolt! and still revolt! revolt! |
What we believe in waits latent forever through all
the continents, and all the islands and archi-
pelagos of the sea;
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What we believe in invites no one, promises nothing,
sits in calmness and light, is positive and com-
posed, knows no discouragement,
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Waiting patiently, waiting its time. |
3 (Not songs of loyalty alone are these, |
But songs of insurrection also; |
For I am the sworn poet of every dauntless rebel, the
world over,
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And he going with me leaves peace and routine behind
him,
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And stakes his life, to be lost at any moment.) |
2
4 Revolt! and the downfall of tyrants! |
The battle rages with many a loud alarm, and frequent
advance and retreat,
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The infidel triumphs—or supposes he triumphs, |
Then the prison, scaffold, garrote, hand-cuffs, iron neck-
lace and anklet, lead-balls, do their work,
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The named and unnamed heroes pass to other spheres, |
The great speakers and writers are exiled—they lie sick
in distant lands,
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The cause is asleep—the strongest throats are still,
choked with their own blood,
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The young men droop their eyelashes toward the ground
when they meet;
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—But for all this, liberty has not gone out of the place,
nor the infidel enter'd into full possession,
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5 When liberty goes out of a place, it is not the first to
go, nor the second or third to go,
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It waits for all the rest to go—it is the last. |
6 When there are no more memories of heroes and
martyrs,
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And when all life, and all the souls of men and women
are discharged from any part of the earth,
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Then only shall liberty, or the idea of liberty, be dis-
charged from that part of the earth,
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And the infidel come into full possession. |
3
7 Then courage! European revolter! revoltress! |
For, till all ceases, neither must you cease. |
8 I do not know what you are for, (I do not know what
I am for myself, nor what anything is for,)
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But I will search carefully for it even in being foil'd, |
In defeat, poverty, misconception, imprisonment—for
they too are great.
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9 Revolt! and the bullet for tyrants! |
Did we think victory great? |
So it is—But now it seems to me, when it cannot be
help'd, that defeat is great,
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And that death and dismay are great. |
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