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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.

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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,

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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.

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