THOU whose sunny heart outglows <br />Arctic snows; <br />Russia's hearth-fire, cherishing <br />Courage almost perishing; <br />Torch that beacons oversea <br />Till a world is at thy knee; <br />Babushka the Belovèd, <br />What Czar can exile thee? <br />Sweet, serene, unswerving soul, <br />To thy goal <br />Pressing on such mighty pinions <br />Tyrants quake for their dominions <br />And devise yet heavier key, <br />Deeper cell to prison thee, <br />Babushka the Belovèd, <br />Thyself art Liberty. <br />Though thy martyr body, old, <br />Chains may hold, <br />Clearer still thy voice goes ringing <br />Over steppe and mountain, bringing, <br />Holy mother of the free, <br />Millions more thy sons to be. <br />Babushka the Belovèd, <br />What death can silence thee?<br /><br />Katharine Lee Bates<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/babushka/
