God helping her, she can do no other!
[A great frenzy of enthusiasm takes the crowd and the music lifts itself into a supreme climax. But Freedom’s two arms go up for silence and the four Voices are heard again, the words of Carl Sandburg.]
Eight Voices
(Intoning upon a high wild note.)
Smash down the cities,
Knock the walls to pieces.
Break the factories and cathedrals, warehouses and homes
Into loose piles of stone and lumber and black burnt wood:
You are the soldiers and we command you.
[The light dies upon the uppermost terrace and increases upon the crowd.]
Four Other Voices
Build up the cities.
Set up the walls again.
Put together once more the factories and cathedrals, warehouses and homes
Into buildings for life and labor;
You are the workmen and citizens all: We command you.
[Again Freedom’s face falls. She comes disconsolately down the stair.]
The People