For the Gods of the World to see;
On the dooming wall their bodiless hands
have blazoned «Upharsin,» and flaring brands
Illumine the message: «Seize the lands!
Open the prisons and make men free!»
Flame out the living words of the dead
Written-in-red.
Gods of the World! Their mouths are dumb!
Your guns have spoken and they are dust.
But the shrouded Living, whose hearts were numb,
have felt the beat of a wakening drum
Within them sounding — the Dead men’s tongue —
Calling: «Smite off the ancient rust!»
Have beheld «Resurrexit,» the word of the Dead,
Written-in-red.
Bear it aloft, O roaring flame!
Skyward aloft, where all may see.
Slaves of the World! Our cause is the same;
One is the immemorial shame;
One is the struggle, and in One name —
Manhood— we battle to set men free.
«Uncurse us the Land!» burn the words of the Dead,
Written-in-red.