The Blossom of Spring
Towards the end of her long and inglorious reign Queen Victoria said, “It is our divine, noble burden to spread the brilliant light of civilized law, culture, and absolute Christian morality to the darkest, most savage corners of the globe.”
In response to this Edinburgh’s very own revolutionary socialist, James Connolly, who was shot by the British in Dublin in 1916 for his part in the Easter Rising, replied to the Queen. He said “Your ‘glorious light’ is just a trail of butchered corpses. You stole the mineral wealth of half the planet, manufactured massive famines, and demanded the starving survivors gratefully kiss your jewelled boots.”
It is in the spirit of James Connolly’s reply that I offer you this poem today.
How beautiful are the blossoms of Spring
emblems of the resilience of life
which the birds of Liberty
eagerly approach
rise up bairns oh Scotiand
rise up clann na h-Alba
& proclaim our Republic!
the rule of law is crucial to the British state
what Scotland has to do
in order to claim our independence
is to provoke them
into breaking their own laws
so that they themselves
subvert their own most powerful weapon
rise up bairns oh Scotiand
rise up clann na h-Alba
& proclaim our Republic!
how beautiful are the blossoms of Spring
flourishing between prison bars
between Zionist bombs
between American missiles
between police sirens
between slaughters ruin
between famine’s last grains
& the threshing floor of plenty
poetry is the truth
it is the language of the future
& the future is a Scottish Republic
rise up bairns oh Scotiand
rise up clann na h-Alba
& proclaim our Republic!
the people of Scotland are poetry
our history is a lyric journey
through time
poetry is the peoples legitimacy
it is our sovereignty
it is our citizenship
but as it stands
we are not citizens
we are silent subjects
rise up bairns oh Scotiand
rise up clann na h-Alba
& proclaim our Republic!
the British state is desperately trying
to defend its own wreckage
the wreckage is all that is left
of their arrogance
& we look on as chattel slaves
never considered human flesh & blood
but our presence must stir the waves
to sweep beyond the wreckage
onward to our Republic like a flood
rise up bairns oh Scotiand
rise up clann na h-Alba
& proclaim our Republic!
paraded through this wreckage
are relics designed to convey
the state’s power
the current relic
is Cherlie the Monarch
the King is the rotten heart of the British state
& must be removed
otherwise we can have
no meaningful freedom
with a King we become part of the wreckage
rise up bairns oh Scotiand
rise up clann na h-Alba
& proclaim our Republic!
rise up to affirm & embrace Justice
for Justice is a fugitive
from the camp of the conqueror
from the bloody banners of the King
& the ermine benches of the dead
rise up the colonised & derided
& bring a people high
rise up bairns oh Scotiand
rise up clann na h-Alba
& proclaim our Republic!
we only have this world
that we bring forth with others
& only love helps us bring it forth
beyond ideas of royalty & empire
somewhere in Scotland
there is an open field
we will gather there
& see
how beautiful are the blossoms of Spring
emblems of the resilience of life
which the birds of Liberty
eagerly approach
so rise up bairns oh Scotiand
rise up clann na h-Alba
& proclaim our Republic!
George Gunn 2026 9th May, Edinburgh
I shed tears reading this . Uplifting and inspiring. Thank you, great writing.
Thank you George.
Superb Poem!
Thanks