The new era

I speak to you this night in verse, and the language Will probably astonish you, gentlemen; Language of the ancient age and message of the gods, And the verses are perhaps little deserving. But a day shall come of the saddened Muse When, in light, the hearts shall soon applaud Fraternal accents of a heartfelt lyre, From the fingers vibrating of a young soul then. Soon shall be heard rising from the Earth In a mysterious cry, a colossal hymn Covering, with its echo, a thundering that holds The explosion of cannons in the service of evil. That cry shall be: progress, light, love! All men, then, at last, joining hands, Shall be beneath the holy banner; and in fervor, The path of liberty they shall find as brothers. Thanks, God! Liberty! to a father, to the other a daughter, Yet both mortal; you have set free The poor family, then, from the evil that grief saddles upon it, From Humanity in tears, from the wounded heart. Hope you show, at last, to the proletarian, Yet defending him before the revolution. You make triumph the egalitarian dogma Through goodness, love, and through abnegation. One alone is the standard, and holy is its device. Liberty with love, action, fraternity! May these loyal terms vibrate the needed faith Touching the heart of all Humanity! Behold the teaching that I can now offer you Through my beloved medium, in guiding his hand. If in verse I speak to him, may he forgive me! Against no one do I versify, it is a versifying of a brother. A. de Musset. n [1]

[cf. Alfred de Musset.]