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THE FOURTH OF AUGUST
Winter's over and Summer's here:Dance over the fairy ring!Now comes in the sweet o' the year,And the gay birds sing!
[Enter a Veiled Figure, who stands over against the drowsing Youth and speaks.]
Seek not to lift my veil, ask not my name.I have no name—I am the spirit's breath,The soul's own blood, the secret spring of life.O Child of Earth and Sky, lighten thine eyes,See what thou art in truth—no fading flower,No beast of prey, no dust enjoying dust,No fluttering thing for mere salvation wild,No passing shadow on the dial of Time—What, then Look in thy heart; what life hast thouThat dust and shadows lack, what life beyondThe life of flower or beast? Have these the powerTo live for something greater, to resignEven in the sunlit moment of their strengthTheir separate being?I am that which bids theeDie and outlive thyself: I am the VoiceThat all thy heroes heard. When their long toilBowed down their burning shoulders, when they builtThy peace with their despair, when bitter seasRolled over them, when battle broke their heartsThis was their life in death—then, then they heard
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