Those were the days
When blood and violence
Won the day
On earth’s green breast
Lay a body
Dead and lifeless
When on her lap
A soul rested
Proud until death
When cries of liberty
Rended the air
When the silence of suffering
Burst forth revolting
The lanes then flowed with blood
Everywhere, there were cries of liberty and blood.
Has liberty given to you men…
Servitude of tyrants,
Was it only that
Liberty still cried in bondage,
Was it that the liberty for which you fought,
Has given you liberty in return,
Bonded in chains?
(Reflections on the French Revolution of 1789 and its aftermath, the Reign of Terror 1793-94)
