Page:The Soul of a Century.djvu/110

  Though we are scorned and endlessly complain; Just as a river flows beneath the ice Thus underneath the Roman tyrant’s yoke A nation lives and who shall still its voice? Before this wall, the ices are released, We are, we live, we breathe and feel again, Once more we are a Nation; ’tis this that really counts.

My Fate will never change for me But one day to arise and fall And ’ere Death plays her melody Only these words will I recall; “My Fate will never change for me.”

I would drink wine, but I swallow dust, I would cheer others, but grieve alone. I long for strength and fancy’s thrust But only grievous words intone. I would drink wine, but swallow dust.

My dreams of happiness are brief, Across my life, deep shadows plod. I feel the weight of all my grief, I am fashioned of a luckless clod. My dreams of happiness are brief.

What can I do! Be still and bear? Someday perhaps, my sun will rise. I wish my soul, like a bird could flare And fly from out its narrow ties. What can I do! Be still and bear?

No one will I stop to upbraid, To reproach him for his sham and pain, Of storms and thunder unafraid Like a nightingale I will sing my strain. No one will I stop to upbraid.

My Fate will never change for me, Perhaps this is my end, at length, To die in my dreams’ rhapsody, To hold you back, I lack the strength. My Fate will never change for me.