Written in Red

Written in red their protest stands,
 For the Gods of the World to see;
 On the dooming wall their bodiless hands
 have blazoned "Upharsin," and flaring brands
 Illumine the message: "Seize the lands!
 Open the prisons and make men free!"
 Flame out the living words of the dead
 Written-in-red.
 Gods of the World! Their mouths are dumb!
 Your guns have spoken and they are dust.
 But the shrouded Living, whose hearts were numb,
 have felt the beat of a wakening drum
 Within them sounding — the Dead men's tongue —
 Calling: "Smite off the ancient rust!"
 Have beheld "Resurrexit," the word of the Dead,
 Written-in-red.
 Bear it aloft, O roaring flame!
 Skyward aloft, where all may see.
 Slaves of the World! Our cause is the same;
 One is the immemorial shame;
 One is the struggle, and in One name —
 Manhood— we battle to set men free.
 "Uncurse us the Land!" burn the words of the Dead,
 Written-in-red.