To the Oracle at Delphi

 by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

    Great Oracle¹， why are you staring at me，

    do I baffle you， do I make you despair？

    I， Americus， the American，

    wrought² from the dark in my mother long ago，

    from the dark of ancient Europa

    Why are you staring at me now

    in the dusk of our civilization

    Why are you staring at me

    as if I were America itself

    the new Empire

    vaster than any in ancient days

    with its electronic highways

    carrying its corporate³ monoculture

    around the world

    And English the Latin of our days

    Great Oracle， sleeping through the centuries，

    Awaken⁴ now at last

    And tell us how to save us from ourselves

    and how to survive our own rulers

    who would make a plutocracy⁵ of our democracy

    in the Great Divide

    between the rich and the poor

    in whom Walt Whitman heard America singing

    O long-silent Sybil，

    you of the winged dreams，

    Speak out from your temple of light

    as the serious constellations⁶

    with Greek names

    still stare down on us

    as a lighthouse moves its megaphone

    over the sea

    Speak out and shine upon us

    the sea-light of Greece

    the diamond light of Greece

    Far-seeing Sybil， forever hidden，

    Come out of your cave at last

    And speak to us in the poet's voice

    the voice of the fourth person singular

    the voice of the inscrutable future

    the voice of the people mixed

    with a wild soft laughter

    And give us new dreams to dream，

    Give us new myths to live by！