30

Of the hirelings’s blood outpoured
Lustrous rubies makes the lord;
Tyrant squire to swell his wealth
Desolates the peasant’s tillth.
Revolt, I cry!
Revolt, defy!
Revolt, or die!


City Sheikh with string of beads
Many a faithful heart misleads,
Brahman baffles with his thread
Many a simple Hindu head.
Revolt, I cry!
Revolt, defy!
Revolt, or die!


Prince and Sultan gambling go,
Loaded are the dice they throw.
Subjects soul from body strip
While their subjects are asleep,
Revolt, I cry!
Revolt, defy!
Revolt, or die!


Preacher’s at the mosque, his son
To the kindergarten gone;
Greybird is a child, in truth,
Child a greybird, spite his youth.
Revolt, I cry!
Revolt, defy!
Revolt, or die!


Brother Muslims! woe to us
For the havoc science does;
Ahriman is cheap enough,
God is rare, scarce-offered stuff.
Revolt, I cry!
Revolt, defy
Revolt, or die!


See bow Falsehood’s blandishment
Shadows Truth, with ill intent,
How the Bat, with blinded eyes,
Plots against the Sun to rise.
Revolt, I cry!
Revolt, defy!
Revolt, or die!


In the Churches, Jesus Christ
On the Cross is sacrificed,
With God’s Book Muhammad too
From the Kaaba flees a new.
Revolt, I cry!
Revolt, defy!
Revolt, or die!


I have seen into the bowls
Furnished by this age for souls;
Such the venom they contain,
Serpents twist and writhe in pain.
Revolt, I cry!
Revolt, defy!
Revolt, or die!


Yet the weak are given at length
Lion’s heart and tiger’s strength;
In this bubbling lantern, lo!
Haply yet a flame will glow.
Revolt, I cry!
Revolt, defy!
Revolt, or die!