Salute, if you will, pioneers of the air,
Men who with courage face death and despair,
Heroes of science who vanquish the sky,
Give them their honor, salute them—but I,
I shall sing of the failures, defeated, alone,
Who knew how men suffer and heard how men moan,
Whose pity was vast and whose faith could remain
Through all the world's mocking and savage disdain,
Men with dreams of tomorrow and deeds of today,
Sacco, Vanzetti, Gene Debs and Jaures!
Hail men who conquer material goals,
I shall sing of the martyrs who conquer men's souls.