I

I heard someone singing about Russia
A freeman's song,
And I heard the old song of the boatmen of Mother Volga ...
Dark sad songs ...
A folk-soul changes but slowly ...

I thought of the wind of freedom that blows on the steppes ...
And I thought of you, Gorky,
The dark young years,
Your strange little Grandmother ...

Deeper than poverty and riches,
Deeper than oppression and tyranny,
Deeper than ignorance,
Deep as life is the folk-soul, and it changes but slowly ...

2

I heard someone singing of America
A cabaret song,
And I heard the old song of Mother dear, come bathe my forehead ...
Sweet thin songs ...
A herd-spirit deepens but slowly ...

I thought of the land of the free where the emigrants settle ...
Are they free? I asked, are they free?
And I thought of the public schools,
And broadcast bathtubs,
And movies and newspapers ...

Czar-scouraged Russia: free America ...
Gorky's Grandmother:
George M. Cohan ...

3

Who shall refuse to be of the party of bread and liberation?
Work for all: light for all: power for all?
Who shall set himself against the tides whose phantom moon is Freedom?
And who shall forget old Tolstoi's wisdom: that freedom is of the spirit?

4

I heard someone singing about Russia
A freeman's song,
And I heard the old song of the boatmen of Mother Volga ...
Dark sad songs ...
A folk-soul changes but slowly.