ODE TO MAZZINI
I
A voice comes from the far unsleeping years,
An echo from the rayless verge of time,
Harsh, with the gathered weight of kingly crime,
Whose soul is stained with blood and bloodlike tears,
And hearts made hard and blind with endless pain,
And eyes too dim to bear
The light of the free air,
And hands no longer restless in the wonted chain,
And valiant lives worn out
By silence and the doubt
That comes with hope found weaponless and vain;
All these cry out to thee,
As thou to Liberty,
All, looking up to thee, take heart and life again.
A voice comes from the far unsleeping years,
An echo from the rayless verge of time,
Harsh, with the gathered weight of kingly crime,
Whose soul is stained with blood and bloodlike tears,
And hearts made hard and blind with endless pain,
And eyes too dim to bear
The light of the free air,
And hands no longer restless in the wonted chain,
And valiant lives worn out
By silence and the doubt
That comes with hope found weaponless and vain;
All these cry out to thee,
As thou to Liberty,
All, looking up to thee, take heart and life again.
II
Too long the world has waited. Year on year
Has died in voiceless fear
Too long the world has waited. Year on year
Has died in voiceless fear
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