O, the beat of the drums, And the sheen of the spears. And red banners that toss like the sea, Better far than the peace That is fraught with deep death To the wild rebel soul set in me ; Better pour out the blood in a swift crimson flood, As to music we march to the grave, Than to feel day by day the slow drops ebb away From the chain-bitten heart of a slave. O, to fight to the death, With a hope through the strife That the freedom we seek shall be ours, Better far than despair And the coward's weak words Trembling back from the front of the Powers. Better do, dare, and fail, than shake like a leaf pale In the breath of the wild autumn wind : Better death on the field with an honour-bright shield Than the soft bed that coward souls find. O, we leave hearth-stone warm For the rain-beaten roads, And our arrows are hung at our sides : Freedom dearer to us Than the home that we leave, Or the warm, clinging arms of the bride. For our children's fair eyes, like the blue of the skies, Foemen's gleaming with hate, chill as steel ; For the Mother-love touch that which smites over-much Till the life, stricken deep, earthward reels. We have waited so long We can wait now no more, And we march forth, our Freedom to meet ; Keeping step to a tune That is brave as our hearts. Whilst the stones clatter loud to our feet. Can we fail when we fight for the sake of the light From the hearths where our cradles have stood ? For the fathers long dead, for the races ahead That shall spring up like flowers from our blood ?
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View text with all available footnotesText Authorship:
- by Ethel Carnie Holdsworth (1886 - 1962), as Ethel Carnie, "A Marching Tune", appears in Songs of a Factory Girl, first published 1911 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Ethel Mary Smyth, Dame (1858 - 1944), "On the Road: a Marching Tune", 1913, published 1913 [ baritone or mezzo-soprano and orchestra ], from Three songs, no. 3, Leipzig: Universal Edition [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-04-05
Line count: 40
Word count: 293