Spain 1873–’74.
Lines:15
OUT of the murk of heaviest clouds,Out of the feudal wrecks, and heap’d-up skeletons of kings,Out of that old entire European debris—the shatter’d mummeries,Ruin’d cathedrals, crumble of palaces, tombs of priests,Lo! Freedom’s features, fresh, undimm’d, look forth—the same immortal face looks forth;(A glimpse as of thy mother’s face, Columbia,A flash significant as of a sword,Beaming towards thee.) Nor think we forget thee, Maternal;Lag’d’st thou so long? Shall the clouds close again upon thee?Ah, but thou hast Thyself now appear’d to us—we know thee;Thou hast given us a sure proof, the glimpse of Thyself;Thou waitest there, as everywhere, thy time.
