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 White as the names immortal of thy chosen and slain. O loved so much so long, O smitten with such wrong, O purged at last and perfect without spot or stain, Light of the light of man, Reborn republican, At last, O first Republic, hailed in heaven again! Out of the obscene eclipse Re-risen, with burning lips To witness for us if we looked for thee in vain.

Thou wast the light whereby men saw Light, thou the trumpet of the law Proclaiming manhood to mankind; And what if all these years were blind And shameful? Hath the sun a flaw Because one hour hath power to draw Mist round him wreathed as links to bind? And what if now keen anguish drains The very wellspring of thy veins And very spirit of thy breath? The life outlives them and disdains; The sense which makes the soul remains, And blood of thought which travaileth To bring forth hope with procreant pains. O thou that satest bound in chains Between thine hills and pleasant plains As whom his own soul vanquisheth,