Classic Poem

Were my hand master of the marble art
Given by the high gods, it were in my heart
To sculpture something that I saw last night—
Something sublime, yet a most tearful sight.

Were you descended from a sire whose grave
Lies by his father's father's—wave on wave
Of sacred mounds ancestral, centuries old,
Through some green valley by time's long tide rolled,
That valley yours, your birthplace, and as far
As you might mark the rising of a star
The land all yours by blest inheritance,
And there your loved ones—not the friends of chance,
But like yourself, of noble blood—the sod
Sacred to them as you—your God their God—
Traditions dear alike to them and you
Making a stainless history, such as few
Nations have had, save in great days of old
When men loved valiant honor more than gold;
Were you so honored and so well possessed
Of all to make the lot of mortal blessed,
What would you do if you were forced to give
That spot where you had prayed in peace to live,
That home where you had hoped in peace to die,
To some Invader, conquered by a lie—
Ay, lies, lies, lies, unblushing, shameless lies,
Base, cowardly lies—deceived and then betrayed,
Robbed of your birthright, treated as a slave,
Your kith and kin most mercilessly slayed,
And desecration round your mother's grave!

Last night I saw one who had suffered all
Such outrage, and assembled hundreds there
Heard his sad story. Women's eyes let fall
Quick quivering tears at thought of his despair,
And many a bearded lip pressed clenched teeth
To keep sharp curses in unspoken sheath.

Thank God he did interpret my long look
Into his eyes of splendor when I took
His kingly hand; and in that look I know
My whole soul shone like sunlight over snow.

Ay, were I master of that wondrous art
Loved by the high gods, it were in my heart
To make mute marble tell the unlanguaged grief
Of noble Joseph, the Nez Percé chief.
Then would I crave a gift like that was won
For Galatea by Pygmalion,
And Liberty should veil her crimsoned cheek
To see the eternal marble move and speak.