AT STRIFE
(From the Yiddish of David Edelstadt)
Hated are we, and driven from our homes,
Tortured and persecuted, even to blood;
And wherefore? ’Tis because we love the poor,
The masses of mankind, who starve for food.
We are shot down, and on the gallows hanged,
Robbed of our lives and freedom without ruth,
Because for the enslaved and for the poor
We are demanding liberty and truth.
But we will not be frightened from our path
By darksome prisons or by tyranny;
We must awake humanity from sleep,
Yea, we must make our brothers glad and free.
Secure us fast with fetters made of iron,
Tear us like beasts of blood till life departs,
’Tis but our bodies that you will destroy,
Never the sacred spirit in our hearts.
You cannot kill it, tyrants of the earth!
Our spirit is a plant immortal, fair;
Its petals, sweet of scent and rich of hue,
Are scattered wide, are blooming everywhere.
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