“… this is what I say: I am suffering because
I am a radical, and indeed I am a radical;
I have suffered because I was an Italian, and indeed
I am an Italian. I have suffered more for my family
than for myself; but I am so convinced to be right
that you can only kill me once but if you could
execute me two other times, I would live again
to do what I have done already. I have finished.
Thank you…”
Vanzetti, the dreamy fish-peddler,
hurt but not alone in the alien courtroom,
voicing the sentiments of millions in his voice;
to scorning men voicing the voice of nations
in one stream of sentiments in his gentle voice,
that justice and tolerance might live for every one.
“… but remember always, Dante, in the play
of happiness, don’t use all for yourself only,
but down yourself just one step, at your side
and help the weak ones that cry for help: they are
your friends: they are the comrades that fight
for the conquest of the joy of freedom for all.
In this struggle of life you will find more love
Sacco, the good shoemaker,
dreaming of the future with the poet that never was,
in spheres of tragic light, dreaming of the world
that never was, as each tragic moment passed
in streams of vivid light, to radiate a harmony
of thought and action that never came to pass.
Our agony is our triumph: Sacco and Vanzetti.