Herman Altman speaks from the grave, looking back on a life of standing against the world for truth and defending the weak. He suspects that if he really lived that way, he was both loved and hated. He doesn’t want a statue or bust built in his honor because monuments let enemies rewrite the past. Thieves and liars—the very people who destroyed him—could stand before his image and pretend they supported him. That would erase the real, complicated person he was. The mood is proud but bitter and wary of hypocrisy. He would rather remain the untarnished possession of those who genuinely loved him and shared his cause than become a public symbol used for lying and oppression. At its heart, this is about guarding the meaning of your life from people who would exploit it after you’re gone.
Herman Altman — Summary
Did I follow Truth wherever she led, And stand against the whole world for a cause, And uphold the weak against the strong? If I did I would be remembered among men As I was known in life among the people, And as I was hated and loved on earth, Therefore, build no monument to me, And carve no bust for me, Lest, though I become not a demi-god, The reality of my soul be lost, So that thieves and liars, Who were my enemies and destroyed me, And the children of thieves and liars, May claim me and affirm before my bust That they stood with me in the days of my defeat. Build me no monument Lest my memory be perverted to the uses Of lying and oppression. My lovers and their children must not be dispossessed of me; I would be the untarnished possession forever Of those for whom I lived.