My Countrymen
- What do you seek, My Countrymen?
- Do you desire that I build for
- You Gorgeous palaces, decorated
- With words of empty meaning, or
- Temples roofed with dreams? Or
- Do you command me to destroy what
- The liars and tyrants have built?
- Shall I uproot with my fingers
- What the hypocrites and the wicked
- Have implanted? Speak your insane
- Wish!
- What is it you would have me do,
- My Countrymen? Shall I purr like
- The kitten to satisfy you, or roar
- Like the lion to please myself? I
- Have sung for you, but you did not
- Dance; I have wept before you, but
- You did not cry. Shall I sing and
- Weep at the same time?
-
- Your souls are suffering the pangs
- Of hunger, and yet the fruit of
- Knowledge is more plentiful than
- The stones of the valleys.
-
- Your hearts are withering from
- Thirst, and yet the springs of
- Life are streaming about your
- Homes—why do you not drink?
- The sea has its ebb and flow,
- The moon has its fullness and
- Crescents, and the Ages have
- Their winter and summer, and all
- Things vary like the shadow of
- An unborn God moving between
- Earth and sun, but Truth cannot
- Be changed, nor will it pass away;
- Why, then do you endeavor to
- Disfigure its countenance?
-
- I have called you in the silence
- Of the night to point out the
- Glory of the moon and the dignity
- Of the stars, but you startled
- From your slumber and clutched
- Your swords in fear, crying,
- “Where is the enemy? We must kill
- Him first!” At morning tide, when
- The enemy came, I called to you
- Again, but now you did not wake
- From your slumber, for you were
- Locked in fear, wresting with
- The procession of specters in
- Your dreams.
-
- And I said unto you, “ Let us climb
- To the mountain top and view the
- Beauty of the world.” And you
- Answered me, saying, “In the depths
- Of this valley our fathers lived,
- And in its shadows they died, and in
- Its caves they were buried. How can
- We depart this place for one which
- They failed to honor?”
- And I said unto you, “Let us go to
- The plain that gives bounty to
- The sea.” And you spoke timidly to
- Me, saying, “The uproar of the abyss
- Will frighten our spirits, and the
- Terror of the depths will deaden
- Our bodies.”
-
- I have loved you, My Countrymen, but
- My love for you is painful to me
- Today I hate you, and hatred is a flood
- That sweeps away the dry branches
- And quavering houses.
- I have pitied your weakness, My
- Countrymen, but my pity has but
- Increases your feebleness, exalting
- And nourishing slothfulness which
- Is vain to Life. And today I see
- your infirmity which my soul loathes
- And fears.
-
- I have cried over your humiliation
- And submission; and my tears streamed
- Like crystalline, but could not sear
- Away your stagnant weakness; yet they
- Removed the veil from my eyes.
-
- My tears have never reached your
- Petrified hearts, but they cleansed
- The darkness from my inner self.
- Today I am mocking at your suffering,
- For laughter is a raging thunder that
- Precedes the tempest and never comes
- After
-
- What do you desire, My Countrymen?
- Do you wish for me to show you
- The ghost of your countenance on
- The face of still water? Come,
- Now, and see how ugly you are!
-
- Look and meditate! Fear has
- Turned your hair gray as the
- Ashes, and dissipation has grown
- Over your eyes and made them into
- Obscured hollows, and cowardice
- Has touched your cheeks that now
- Appear as dismal pits in the
- Valley, and Death has kissed
- Your lips and left them yellow
- As the Autumn leaves.
-
- What is it that you seek, My
- Countrymen? What ask you from
- Life, who does not any longer
- Count you among her children?
-
- Your souls are freezing in the
- Clutches of the priests and
- Sorcerers, and your bodies
- Tremble between the paws of the
- Despots and the shedders of
- Blood, and your country quakes
- Under the marching feet of the
- Conquering enemy; what may you
- Expect even though you stand
- Proudly before the face of the
- Sun? Your swords are sheathed
- With rust, and your spears are
- Broken, and your shields are
- Laden with gaps; why, then, do
- You stand in the field of battle?
-
- Hypocrisy is your religion, and
- Falsehood is your life, and
- Nothingness is your ending; why,
- Then, are you living? Is not
- Death the sole comfort of the
- Miserables?
-
- Life is a resolution that
- Accompanies youth, and a diligence
- That follows maturity, and a
- Wisdom that pursues senility; but
- You, My Countrymen, were born old
- And weak. And your skins withered
- And your heads shrank, whereupon
- You became as children, running
- Into the mire and casting stones
- Upon each other.
-
- Knowledge is a light, enriching
- The warmth of life, and all may
- Partake who seek it out; but you,
- My Countrymen, seek out darkness
- And flee the light, awaiting the
- Coming of water from the rock,
- And your nation's misery is your
- Crime...I do not forgive you
- Your sins, for you know what you
- Are doing.
-
- Humanity is a brilliant river
- Singing its way and carrying with
- Its mountains' secrets into
- The heart of the sea; but you,
- My Countrymen, are stagnant
- Marshes infested with insects
- And Vipers.
-
- The Spirit is a sacred blue
- Torch, burning and devouring
- The dry plants, and growing
- With the storm and illuminating
- The faces of the goddesses; but
- You, My Countrymen...your souls
- Are like ashes which the winds
- Scatter upon the snow, and which
- The tempests disperse forever in
- The valleys.
-
- Fear not the phantom of Death,
- My Countrymen, for his greatness
- And mercy will refuse to approach
- Your smallness; and dread not the
- Dagger, for it will decline to be
- Lodged in your shallow hearts.
-
- I hate you, My Countrymen, because
- You hate glory and greatness. I
- Despise you because you despise
- Yourselves. I am your enemy, for
- You refuse to realize that you are
- The enemies of the goddesses.
- --oOo-- -