Suppose you do it, Republic. Get some class, Throw out your chest, lift up your head, Be a ruler in the world, And not a hermit in regimentals with a flint-lock. Colossus with one foot in Europe, And one in China, Quit looking between your legs for the re-appearance Of the star of Bethlehem-- Stand up and be a man! PAST AND PRESENT Past midnight! Vastly overhead A wash of stars--the town’s asleep! And through the pine trees of the dead The rising winds of morning creep. Dim, mid the hillside’s shadow grass I count the marble slabs. How vain My throbbing life that waits to pass Into the great world on the train! The city’s vision fades from mind. I only see the hill and sky; And on the mist that rides the wind A tottering pageant meets my eye. The cock crows faintly, far away; A troop of age and grief appears. Ye shadows of a distant day. What do ye, pioneers? There shines the engine’s comet light. Ye shadows of a century set, Haste to the hillside and the night-- I am not of you yet! ROBERT G. INGERSOLL To the lovers of Liberty everywhere, But chiefly to the youth of America Who did not know Robert G. Ingersoll, Remember that he helped to make you free! He was a leader in a war of guns for freedom, But a general in the war of ideas for freedom! He braved the misunderstanding of friends, He faced the enmity of the powerful small of soul, And the insidious power of the churches; He put aside worldly honours, And the sovereignty of place, He stripped off the armor of institutional friendships To dedicate his soul To the terrible deities of Truth and Beauty! And he went down into age and into the shadow With love of men for a staff, And the light of his soul for a light-- And with these alone! O you martyrs trading martyrdom for heaven, And self-denial for eternal riches, How does your work and your death compare With a man’s for whom the weal of the race, And the cause of humanity here and now were enough To give life meaning and death as well?-- I have not seen such faith in Israel! AT HAVANA