Three Poems of Spain by Bill Harrington
The Volunteer for Liberty, V2, no. 33, October 6, 1938
ARAGON BALLAD
Francisco Franco, fascist chief,
Of him is the story told,
His “justice” fills the Aragon hills,
His curse is manifold:
He’s taken toll of the North and South
The gore it reached far;
And they tell the tale of his “charity”
In the ring at Badajoz.
Francisco Franco, fascist chief,
Of the North and South is told:
That the North and South shall open their mouth
To a People’s flag unrolled:
When the big guns speak to an Aragon peak
And his foreign confreres flee –
Ye have heard the song “How long? How long?”
How long to your victory?
IN AN OLIVE GROVE
I wandered thro’ the tortured grove
Where’midst the ruined trees we drove
The fiends of war to final death;
That they might give to you and me
Heritage of a world set free.
And there beneath a twisted limb,
Beneath whose scars life crossed the brim;
There beside a riven stem
Alone which marks the grave of men
Who gave their lives to see unfurled
The standard of Man in a better world
There I sat and the vision rose,
A glorious galaxy of those
Whose youth and hopes were sacrifice
To dreams they had of a paradise
To brave ideals of a virtuous earth
Their years were shed to bring the birth
Of a boundless you that will amply repay
The everything that they gave away.
FAREWELL
The barren soil grows rich
With Life’s red blood,
And fertile peace shall hide
This black terrain;
Youth and joy shall thunder
As in Flood,
To drawn the dust of war,
The weeds of pain.
And as the sun comes up,
And reddened skies
Reflect the glory of
The sacrificed;
A thousand voices shall
In echo rise.
To greet this new-born land
In vict’rys tryst.
William James Harrington was a British volunteer. Borne in London in 1915 he worked as a journalist before volunteering to serve in the International Brigades. Harrington arrived in Spain on January 21, 1937. While in Spain he wrote a number of poems, often signing them as W. J. H. Harrington was repatriated in October 1938. For additional information see International Brigade Memorial Trust, The Volunteers, data base.
