Song of the General Strike
By Maria Bravo of Argentina. Translated from the Spanish by Alice Stone Blackwell in June, 1921 for the Liberator Magazine.
The crowd advances like a sounding sea
The multitude ablaze with banners bright;
In the great chorus that invokes a hope
All earth's revolts seem throbbing, full of might
Like a huge cloud foretelling cyclones dread
The multitude all-powerful marches past;
Today they rest; their clamor, all as one,
Spreads fear of revolutions dark and vast.
Energy that creates and that destroys,
Perpetual energy, the crowd goes
Men with their faith, their strength, their song, their flag
And as they pass, the streets thrill silently;
A hush falls here and where the pampas open,
And life itself stands still and waits in hope!