Mourn not the dead that in the cool earth lie
Dust unto dust
The calm, sweet earth that mothers all who die
As all men must;
Mourn not your captive comrades who must dwell
Too strong to strive
Within each steel-bound coffin of a cell,
Buried alive;
But rather mourn the apathetic throng
The cowed and the meek
Who see the world's great anguish and its wrong
And dare not speak!
Dust unto dust
The calm, sweet earth that mothers all who die
As all men must;
Mourn not your captive comrades who must dwell
Too strong to strive
Within each steel-bound coffin of a cell,
Buried alive;
But rather mourn the apathetic throng
The cowed and the meek
Who see the world's great anguish and its wrong
And dare not speak!
Contributed by Bernart Bartleby - 2014/5/20 - 14:38
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Parole e musica di Ralph Chaplin (1887-1961), scrittore, giornalista e “Wobblie”, autore del disegno del gatto nero incazzato simbolo dell’IWW e poi dell’anarco-sindacalismo.
In “Bars And Shadows: The Prison Poems”, una raccolta di poesie scritte in prigione negli ultimi anni della Grande Guerra e immediatamente successivi. Ralph Chaplin era statto infatti condannato a scontare una pena di 20 anni (ridottisi poi a 4) per la sua attività volta a boicottare l’arruolamento e favorire la diserzione.