- TO ISADORA DUNCAN
WITH the gesture of a god,
You gave me back my youth;
And a scent of violets
Overflowed the world.
With the gesture of a god.
You gave me back my love,
And tears deeper than tears
Overflowed my heart.
With the gesture of a god,
You trampled on fate,
You lifted up on high
Those that had fallen —
All the oppressed,
All the humiliated,
All the offended;
You lifted them up on high
And they were comforted.
With the gesture of a god,
You wrestled with Demogorgon;
You brought hope back
And freedom and triumph
To those whom the world had crushed.
All of us, sitting in darkness,
Saw a great light.
You danced as dance the morning stars
And the universe was conquered.
You smote the universe in the mouth;
And you saved us —
You — a woman.
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1924.
The author died in 1963, so this work is also in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 50 years or less. This work may also be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.