The Waving of the Red
The Waving of the Red - meaning Summary
Revolutionary Longing and Warning
The poem presents a speaker dismayed by social decline and contemplating collective action. He voices frustration at inaction and fear of betrayal, then recounts a visionary image: a Liberty‑like woman holding a blood-red flag who urges men to gather. The recurring call for Waving of the Red
frames the poem as an imaginative summons to solidarity and possible revolt, mixing moral alarm with hope for mass mobilization.
It is a sad and cruel fate the country’s coming to, And there’s no use in striking, ‘so what are we to do?’ I know what we could do, but then, there might be traitors near, And things are running in my head that only mates should hear! The world cannot go on like this, in spite of all that’s said, And millions now are waiting for – the Waving of the Red. Last night as I lay slipping out a vision came to me; A girl with face as fair and grand as ever man might see – Her form was like the statues raised to Liberty in France, And in her hand a blood-red flag was wrapped around a lance. She shook the grand old colour loose, she smiled at me and said; Go bid your brothers gather for the Waving of the Red.
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