The pale and dismal daylight falls
Through iron bars on prison walls.
In chains we came from far and near,
And in dark cells they hold us here.
Defiant 'neath the Iron Heel;
Their walls of stone and bars of steel!
For though all hell at us is hurled,
We and our kind shall rule the world!
At us the blood-hounds are let loose,
The lynch-mobs with the knotted noose;
In legal sanctioned mask and gown
The New Black Hundreds hunt us down.
Defiant 'neath the Iron Heel;
Their walls of stone and bars of steel!
For though all hell at us is hurled,
We and our kind shall rule the world!
To all brave comrades o'er the sea,
In chains for human liberty,
And all jailed rebels everywhere
We say: be bold to do and dare!
Defiant 'neath the Iron Heel;
Their walls of stone and bars of steel!
For though all hell at us is hurled,
We and our kind shall rule the world!
By all the graves of Labor's dead,
By Labor's deathless flag of red,
We make a solemn vow to you,
We'll keep the faith; we will be true.
Defiant 'neath the Iron Heel;
Their walls of stone and bars of steel!
For though all hell at us is hurled,
We and our kind shall rule the world!
For Freedom laughs at prison bars
Her voice re-echoes from the stars;
Proclaiming with the tempest's breath
A Cause beyond the reach of death!
Defiant 'neath the Iron Heel;
Their walls of stone and bars of steel!
For though all hell at us is hurled,
We and our kind shall rule the world!
Through iron bars on prison walls.
In chains we came from far and near,
And in dark cells they hold us here.
Defiant 'neath the Iron Heel;
Their walls of stone and bars of steel!
For though all hell at us is hurled,
We and our kind shall rule the world!
At us the blood-hounds are let loose,
The lynch-mobs with the knotted noose;
In legal sanctioned mask and gown
The New Black Hundreds hunt us down.
Defiant 'neath the Iron Heel;
Their walls of stone and bars of steel!
For though all hell at us is hurled,
We and our kind shall rule the world!
To all brave comrades o'er the sea,
In chains for human liberty,
And all jailed rebels everywhere
We say: be bold to do and dare!
Defiant 'neath the Iron Heel;
Their walls of stone and bars of steel!
For though all hell at us is hurled,
We and our kind shall rule the world!
By all the graves of Labor's dead,
By Labor's deathless flag of red,
We make a solemn vow to you,
We'll keep the faith; we will be true.
Defiant 'neath the Iron Heel;
Their walls of stone and bars of steel!
For though all hell at us is hurled,
We and our kind shall rule the world!
For Freedom laughs at prison bars
Her voice re-echoes from the stars;
Proclaiming with the tempest's breath
A Cause beyond the reach of death!
Defiant 'neath the Iron Heel;
Their walls of stone and bars of steel!
For though all hell at us is hurled,
We and our kind shall rule the world!
Contributed by Bernart Bartleby - 2014/5/21 - 14:20
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Parole di Ralph Chaplin (1887-1961), scrittore, giornalista e “Wobblie”, autore del disegno del gatto nero incazzato simbolo dell’IWW e poi dell’anarco-sindacalismo.
Sulla melodia de The Red Flag di Jim Connell.
In “Bars And Shadows: The Prison Poems”, una raccolta di poesie scritte in prigione negli ultimi anni della Grande Guerra e immediatamente successivi. Ralph Chaplin era statto infatti condannato a scontare una pena di 20 anni (ridottisi poi a 4) per la sua attività volta a boicottare l’arruolamento e favorire la diserzione.
Alla fine della seconda strofa Chaplin fa riferimento ai cosiddetti “Centoneri” (Черносотенцы, Černosotency), un'organizzazione nazionalista, reazionaria e antisemita russa sorta per contrastare la rivoluzione del 1905 ed attiva anche negli anni immediatamente successivi. Si trattava di un gruppo paramilitare, incoraggiato e foraggiato dallo zar (che ne era membro onorario), composto da proprietari terrieri, ex militari, poliziotti e preti ortodossi.
Nella Russia dello zar Putin i Centoneri stanno conoscendo una nuova primavera…