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diff --git a/21777.txt b/21777.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9a0ada8 --- /dev/null +++ b/21777.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3240 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Years Between, by Rudyard Kipling + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Years Between + + +Author: Rudyard Kipling + + + +Release Date: June 8, 2007 [eBook #21777] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YEARS BETWEEN*** + + +E-text prepared by Thierry Alberto, L. N. Yaddanapudi, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustration. + See 21777-h.htm or 21777-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/1/7/7/21777/21777-h/21777-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/1/7/7/21777/21777-h.zip) + + + + + +THE YEARS BETWEEN + +by + +RUDYARD KIPLING + + + + + + + +[Illustration] + + + +Methuen and Co. Ltd. +36 Essex Street W.C. +London +First Published in 1919 + + + + +DEDICATION + +TO THE SEVEN WATCHMEN + + + _Seven Watchmen sitting in a tower, + Watching what had come upon mankind, + Showed the Man the Glory and the Power, + And bade him shape the Kingdom to his mind. + 'All things on Earth your will shall win you' + ('Twas so their counsel ran) + 'But the Kingdom--the Kingdom is within you,' + Said the Man's own mind to the Man. + For time, and some time-- + As it was in the bitter years before, + So it shall be in the over-sweetened hour-- + That a man's mind is wont to tell him more + Than Seven Watchmen sitting in a tower._ + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + BENEFACTORS, THE 96 + CHOICE, THE 35 + 'CITY OF BRASS, THE' 148 + COVENANT, THE 13 + CRAFTSMAN, THE 91 + DEAD KING, THE 100 + DEATH-BED, A 106 + DECLARATION OF LONDON, THE 6 + DEDICATION v + EN-DOR 55 + EPITAPHS 135 + FEMALE OF THE SPECIES, THE 128 + 'FOR ALL WE HAVE AND ARE' 21 + FRANCE 15 + GEHAZI 109 + GETHSEMANE 85 + HOLY-WAR, THE 38 + HOUSES, THE 42 + HYAENAS, THE 68 + JUSTICE 156 + IRISH GUARDS, THE 48 + LORD ROBERTS 31 + MARY'S SON 80 + MESOPOTAMIA 65 + MY BOY JACK 61 + NATIVITY, A 52 + NATURAL THEOLOGY 121 + OLDEST SONG, THE 119 + OUTLAWS, THE 27 + PILGRIM'S WAY, A 114 + PRO-CONSULS, THE 87 + QUESTION, THE 33 + RECANTATION, A 58 + ROWERS, THE 1 + RUSSIA TO THE PACIFISTS 44 + SONG AT COCK-CROW, A 125 + SONG IN STORM, A 24 + SONG OF THE LATHES, THE 81 + SONS OF MARTHA, THE 75 + SPIES' MARCH, THE 70 + THINGS AND THE MAN 93 + ULSTER 9 + VERDICTS, THE 63 + VETERANS, THE 5 + VIRGINITY, THE 112 + ZION 29 + + + + +INDEX TO FIRST LINES + + + PAGE + _Across a world where all men grieve,_ 156 + _A._ 'I was a "have"' _B._ 'I was a "have-not,"' 135 + After the burial-parties leave, 68 + _Ah! What avails the classic bent,_ 96 + _A tinker out of Bedford,_ 38 + + Be well assured that on our side, 24 + Brethren, how shall it fare with me, 33 + _Broke to every known mischance, lifted over all,_ 15 + + For all we have and are, 21 + + God rest you, peaceful gentlemen, let nothing you dismay, 44 + + 'Have you news of my boy Jack?' 61 + He passed in the very battle-smoke, 31 + + I ate my fill of a whale that died, 121 + I do not look for holy saints to guide me on my way, 114 + If you stop to find out what your wages will be, 80 + _In a land that the sand overlays--the ways to her gates are + untrod,_ 148 + + Not in the thick of the fight, 63 + + Oh ye who hold the written clue, 93 + Once, after long-drawn revel at The Mermaid, 91 + + _Seven Watchmen sitting in a tower,_ v + + _The Babe was laid in the Manger,_ 52 + The banked oars fell an hundred strong, 1 + The dark eleventh hour, 9 + The Doorkeepers of Zion, 29 + The fans and the beltings they roar round me, 81 + The first time that Peter denied his Lord, 125 + The Garden called Gethsemane, 85 + _The overfaithful sword returns the user,_ 87 + There are no leaders to lead us to honour, and yet without leaders + we sally, 70 + The road to En-dor is easy to tread, 55 + These were never your true love's eyes, 119 + The Sons of Mary seldom bother, for they have inherited that good + part, 75 + They shall not return to us, the resolute, the young, 65 + 'This is the State above the Law, 106 + To-day, across our fathers' graves, 5 + _To the Judge of Right and Wrong,_ 35 + Through learned and laborious years, 27 + Try as he will, no man breaks wholly loose, 112 + 'Twixt my house and thy house the pathway is broad, 42 + + We're not so old in the Army List, 48 + We thought we ranked above the chance of ill, 13 + We were all one heart and one race, 6 + What boots it on the Gods to call? 58 + 'Whence comest thou, Gehazi, 109 + When the Himalayan peasant meets the he-bear in his pride, 128 + _Who in the Realm to-day lays down dear life for the sake of a + land more dear?_ 100 + + + + +THE ROWERS + +1902 + +(When Germany proposed that England should help her in a naval +demonstration to collect debts from Venezuela.) + + + The banked oars fell an hundred strong, + And backed and threshed and ground, + But bitter was the rowers' song + As they brought the war-boat round. + + They had no heart for the rally and roar + That makes the whale-bath smoke-- + When the great blades cleave and hold and leave + As one on the racing stroke. + + They sang:--'What reckoning do you keep, + And steer her by what star, + If we come unscathed from the Southern deep + To be wrecked on a Baltic bar? + + 'Last night you swore our voyage was done, + But seaward still we go, + And you tell us now of a secret vow + You have made with an open foe! + + 'That we must lie off a lightless coast + And haul and back and veer, + At the will of the breed that have wronged us most + For a year and a year and a year! + + 'There was never a shame in Christendie + They laid not to our door-- + And you say we must take the winter sea + And sail with them once more? + + 'Look South! The gale is scarce o'erpast + That stripped and laid us down, + When we stood forth but they stood fast + And prayed to see us drown + + 'Our dead they mocked are scarcely cold, + Our wounds are bleeding yet-- + And you tell us now that our strength is sold + To help them press for a debt' + + ''Neath all the flags of all mankind + That use upon the seas, + Was there no other fleet to find + That you strike hands with these? + + 'Of evil times that men can choose + On evil fate to fall, + What brooding Judgment let you loose + To pick the worst of all? + + 'In sight of peace--from the Narrow Seas + O'er half the world to run-- + With a cheated crew, to league anew + With the Goth and the shameless Hun!' + + + + +THE VETERANS + +[Written for the gathering of survivors of the Indian Mutiny, Albert +Hall, 1907.] + + + To-day, across our fathers' graves, + The astonished years reveal + The remnant of that desperate host + Which cleansed our East with steel. + + Hail and farewell! We greet you here, + With tears that none will scorn-- + O Keepers of the House of old, + Or ever we were born! + + One service more we dare to ask-- + Pray for us, heroes, pray, + That when Fate lays on us our task + We do not shame the Day! + + + + +THE DECLARATION OF LONDON + +JUNE 29, 1911 + +('On the re-assembling of Parliament after the Coronation, the +Government have no intention of allowing their followers to vote +according to their convictions on the Declaration of London, but +insist on a strictly party vote'--_Daily Papers_.) + + + We were all one heart and one race + When the Abbey trumpets blew. + For a moment's breathing-space + We had forgotten you + Now you return to your honoured place + Panting to shame us anew. + + We have walked with the Ages dead-- + With our Past alive and ablaze, + And you bid us pawn our honour for bread; + This day of all the days! + And you cannot wait till our guests are sped, + Or last week's wreath decays? + + The light is still in our eyes + Of Faith and Gentlehood, + Of Service and Sacrifice, + And it does not match our mood, + To turn so soon to your treacheries + That starve our land of her food. + + Our ears still carry the sound + Of our once Imperial seas, + Exultant after our King was crowned, + Beneath the sun and the breeze. + It is too early to have them bound + Or sold at your decrees. + + Wait till the memory goes, + Wait till the visions fade, + We may betray in time, God knows, + But we would not have it said, + When you make report to our scornful foes, + That we kissed as we betrayed! + + + + +ULSTER + +1912 + +('Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover +themselves with their works; their works are works of iniquity, +and the act of violence is in their hands.'--_Isaiah lix 6_) + + + The dark eleventh hour + Draws on and sees us sold + To every evil power + We fought against of old. + Rebellion, rapine, hate, + Oppression, wrong and greed + Are loosed to rule our fate, + By England's act and deed. + + The Faith in which we stand, + The laws we made and guard, + Our honour, lives, and land + Are given for reward + To Murder done by night, + To Treason taught by day, + To folly, sloth, and spite, + And we are thrust away. + + The blood our fathers spilt, + Our love, our toils, our pains, + Are counted us for guilt, + And only bind our chains. + Before an Empire's eyes + The traitor claims his price. + What need of further lies? + We are the sacrifice. + + We asked no more than leave + To reap where we had sown, + Through good and ill to cleave + To our own flag and throne. + Now England's shot and steel + Beneath that flag must show + How loyal hearts should kneel + To England's oldest foe. + + We know the war prepared + On every peaceful home, + We know the hells declared + For such as serve not Rome-- + The terror, threats, and dread + In market, hearth, and field-- + We know, when all is said, + We perish if we yield. + + Believe, we dare not boast, + Believe, we do not fear-- + We stand to pay the cost + In all that men hold dear. + What answer from the North? + One Law, one Land, one Throne. + If England drive us forth + We shall not fall alone. + + + + +THE COVENANT + +1914 + + + We thought we ranked above the chance of ill. + Others might fall, not we, for we were wise-- + Merchants in freedom. So, of our free-will + We let our servants drug our strength with lies. + The pleasure and the poison had its way + On us as on the meanest, till we learned + That he who lies will steal, who steals will slay. + Neither God's judgment nor man's heart was turned. + + Yet there remains His Mercy--to be sought + Through wrath and peril till we cleanse the wrong + By that last right which our forefathers claimed + When their Law failed them and its stewards were bought. + This is our cause. God help us, and make strong + Our wills to meet Him later, unashamed! + + + + +FRANCE + +1913 + + + _Broke to every known mischance, lifted over all + By the light sane joy of life, the buckler of the Gaul; + Furious in luxury, merciless in toil, + Terrible with strength that draws from her tireless soil; + Strictest judge of her own worth, gentlest of man's mind, + First to follow Truth and last to leave old Truths behind-- + France, beloved of every soul that loves its fellow-kind!_ + + Ere our birth (rememberest thou?) side by side we lay + Fretting in the womb of Rome to begin our fray. + Ere men knew our tongues apart, our one task was known-- + Each must mould the other's fate as he wrought his own + To this end we stirred mankind till all Earth was ours, + Till our world-end strifes begat wayside thrones and powers-- + Puppets that we made or broke to bar the other's path-- + Necessary, outpost folk, hirelings of our wrath + To this end we stormed the seas, tack for tack, and burst + Through the doorways of new worlds, doubtful which was first, + Hand on hilt (rememberest thou?) ready for the blow-- + Sure, whatever else we met, we should meet our foe. + Spurred or balked at every stride by the other's strength, + So we rode the ages down and every ocean's length! + + Where did you refrain from us or we refrain from you? + Ask the wave that has not watched war between us two! + Others held us for a while, but with weaker charms, + These we quitted at the call for each other's arms. + Eager toward the known delight, equally we strove-- + Each the other's mystery, terror, need, and love + To each other's open court with our proofs we came. + Where could we find honour else, or men to test our claim? + From each other's throat we wrenched--valour's last reward-- + That extorted word of praise gasped 'twixt lunge and guard. + In each other's cup we poured mingled blood and tears, + Brutal joys, unmeasured hopes, intolerable fears-- + All that soiled or salted life for a thousand years. + Proved beyond the need of proof, matched in every clime, + O companion, we have lived greatly through all time! + + Yoked in knowledge and remorse, now we come to rest, + Laughing at old villainies that Time has turned to jest, + Pardoning old necessities no pardon can efface-- + That undying sin we shared in Rouen marketplace. + Now we watch the new years shape, wondering if they hold + Fiercer lightnings in their heart than we launched of old. + Now we hear new voices rise, question, boast or gird, + As we raged (rememberest thou?) when our crowds were stirred, + Now we count new keels afloat, and new hosts on land, + Massed like ours (rememberest thou?) when our strokes were planned. + We were schooled for dear life's sake, to know each other's blade + What can blood and iron make more than we have made? + We have learned by keenest use to know each other's mind. + What shall blood and iron loose that we cannot bind? + We who swept each other's coast, sacked each other's home, + Since the sword of Brennus clashed on the scales at Rome, + Listen, count and close again, wheeling girth to girth, + In the linked and steadfast guard set for peace on earth! + + Broke to every known mischance, lifted over all + By the light sane joy of life, the buckler of the Gaul; + Furious in luxury, merciless in toil, + Terrible with strength renewed from a tireless soil; + Strictest judge of her own worth, gentlest of man's mind, + First to face the Truth and last to leave old Truths behind-- + France, beloved of every soul that loves or serves its kind! + + + + +'FOR ALL WE HAVE AND ARE' + +1914. + + + For all we have and are, + For all our children's fate, + Stand up and take the war, + The Hun is at the gate! + Our world has passed away, + In wantonness o'erthrown. + There is nothing left to-day + But steel and fire and stone! + Though all we knew depart, + The old Commandments stand:-- + 'In courage keep your heart, + In strength lift up your hand.' + + Once more we hear the word + That sickened earth of old:-- + 'No law except the Sword + Unsheathed and uncontrolled.' + Once more it knits mankind, + Once more the nations go + To meet and break and bind + A crazed and driven foe. + + Comfort, content, delight, + The ages' slow-bought gain, + They shrivelled in a night. + Only ourselves remain + To face the naked days + In silent fortitude, + Through perils and dismays + Renewed and re-renewed. + Though all we made depart, + The old Commandments stand;-- + 'In patience keep your heart, + In strength lift up your hand.' + + No easy hope or lies + Shall bring us to our goal, + But iron sacrifice + Of body, will, and soul. + There is but one task for all-- + One life for each to give + Who stands if Freedom fall? + Who dies if England live? + + + + +A SONG IN STORM + + + Be well assured that on our side + The abiding oceans fight, + Though headlong wind and heaping tide + Make us their sport to-night. + By force of weather not of war + In jeopardy we steer, + Then welcome Fate's discourtesy + Whereby it shall appear, + How in all time of our distress, + And our deliverance too, + The game is more than the player of the game, + And the ship is more than the crew. + + Out of the mist into the mirk + The glimmering combers roll. + Almost these mindless waters work + As though they had a soul-- + Almost as though they leagued to whelm + Our flag beneath their green + Then welcome Fate's discourtesy + Whereby it shall be seen, etc. + + Be well assured, though wave and wind + Have weightier blows in store, + That we who keep the watch assigned + Must stand to it the more; + And as our streaming bows rebuke + Each billow's baulked career, + Sing, welcome Fate's discourtesy + Whereby it is made clear, etc. + + No matter though our deck be swept + And masts and timber crack-- + We can make good all loss except + The loss of turning back. + So, 'twixt these Devils and our deep + Let courteous trumpets sound, + To welcome Fate's discourtesy + Whereby it will be found, etc. + + Be well assured, though in our power + Is nothing left to give + But chance and place to meet the hour, + And leave to strive to live, + Till these dissolve our Order holds, + Our Service binds us here. + Then welcome Fate's discourtesy + Whereby it is made clear, + How in all time of our distress, + And in our triumph too, + The game is more than the player of the game, + And the ship is more than the crew! + + + + +THE OUTLAWS + +1914 + + + Through learned and laborious years + They set themselves to find + Fresh terrors and undreamed-of fears + To heap upon mankind. + + All that they drew from Heaven above + Or digged from earth beneath, + They laid into their treasure-trove + And arsenals of death: + + While, for well-weighed advantage sake, + Ruler and ruled alike + Built up the faith they meant to break + When the fit hour should strike. + + They traded with the careless earth, + And good return it gave; + They plotted by their neighbour's hearth + The means to make him slave. + + When all was ready to their hand + They loosed their hidden sword, + And utterly laid waste a land + Their oath was pledged to guard. + + Coldly they went about to raise + To life and make more dread + Abominations of old days, + That men believed were dead. + + They paid the price to reach their goal + Across a world in flame; + But their own hate slew their own soul + Before that victory came. + + + + +ZION + + + The Doorkeepers of Zion, + They do not always stand + In helmet and whole armour, + With halberds in their hand, + But, being sure of Zion, + And all her mysteries, + They rest awhile in Zion, + Sit down and smile in Zion; + Ay, even jest in Zion; + In Zion, at their ease. + + The Gatekeepers of Baal, + They dare not sit or lean, + But fume and fret and posture + And foam and curse between; + For being bound to Baal, + Whose sacrifice is vain. + Their rest is scant with Baal, + They glare and pant for Baal, + They mouth and rant for Baal, + For Baal in their pain! + + But we will go to Zion, + By choice and not through dread, + With these our present comrades + And those our present dead; + And, being free of Zion + In both her fellowships, + Sit down and sup in Zion-- + Stand up and drink in Zion + Whatever cup in Zion + Is offered to our lips! + + + + +LORD ROBERTS + +1914 + + + He passed in the very battle-smoke + Of the war that he had descried. + Three hundred mile of cannon spoke + When the Master-Gunner died. + + He passed to the very sound of the guns; + But, before his eye grew dim, + He had seen the faces of the sons + Whose sires had served with him. + + He had touched their sword-hilts and greeted each + With the old sure word of praise; + And there was virtue in touch and speech + As it had been in old days. + + So he dismissed them and took his rest, + And the steadfast spirit went forth + Between the adoring East and West + And the tireless guns of the North. + + Clean, simple, valiant, well-beloved, + Flawless in faith and fame, + Whom neither ease nor honours moved + An hair's-breadth from his aim. + + Never again the war-wise face, + The weighed and urgent word + That pleaded in the market-place-- + Pleaded and was not heard! + + Yet from his life a new life springs + Through all the hosts to come, + And Glory is the least of things + That follow this man home. + + + + +THE QUESTION + +1916 + + + Brethren, how shall it fare with me + When the war is laid aside, + If it be proven that I am he + For whom a world has died? + + If it be proven that all my good, + And the greater good I will make, + Were purchased me by a multitude + Who suffered for my sake? + + That I was delivered by mere mankind + Vowed to one sacrifice, + And not, as I hold them, battle-blind, + But dying with open eyes? + + That they did not ask me to draw the sword + When they stood to endure their lot-- + That they only looked to me for a word, + And I answered I knew them not? + + If it be found, when the battle clears, + Their death has set me free, + Then how shall I live with myself through the years + Which they have bought for me? + + Brethren, how must it fare with me, + Or how am I justified, + If it be proven that I am he + For whom mankind has died, + If it be proven that I am he + Who being questioned denied? + + + + +THE CHOICE + +1917 + +(THE AMERICAN SPIRIT SPEAKS) + + + _To the Judge of Right and Wrong + With Whom fulfilment lies + Our purpose and our power belong, + Our faith and sacrifice._ + + Let Freedom's Land rejoice! + Our ancient bonds are riven; + Once more to us the eternal choice + Of Good or Ill is given. + + Not at a little cost, + Hardly by prayer or tears, + Shall we recover the road we lost + In the drugged and doubting years. + + But, after the fires and the wrath, + But, after searching and pain, + His Mercy opens us a path + To live with ourselves again. + + In the Gates of Death rejoice! + We see and hold the good-- + Bear witness, Earth, we have made our choice + With Freedom's brotherhood! + + Then praise the Lord Most High + Whose Strength hath saved us whole, + Who bade us choose that the Flesh should die + And not the living Soul! + + _To the God in Man displayed-- + Where e'er we see that Birth, + Be love and understanding paid + As never yet on earth!_ + + _To the Spirit that moves in Man, + On Whom all worlds depend, + Be Glory since our world began + And service to the end!_ + + + + +THE HOLY WAR + +1917 + +('For here lay the excellent wisdom of him that built Mansoul that the +walls could never be broken down nor hurt by the most mighty adverse +potentate unless the townsmen gave consent thereto'--BUNYAN'S _Holy +War_) + + + _A tinker out of Bedford, + A vagrant oft in quod, + A private under Fairfax, + A minister of God-- + Two hundred years and thirty + Ere Armageddon came + His single hand portrayed it, + And Bunyan was his name!_ + + He mapped, for those who follow, + The world in which we are-- + 'This famous town of Mansoul' + That takes the Holy War + Her true and traitor people, + The gates along her wall, + From Eye Gate unto Feel Gate, + John Bunyan showed them all. + + All enemy divisions, + Recruits of every class, + And highly-screened positions + For flame or poison-gas, + The craft that we call modern, + The crimes that we call new, + John Bunyan had 'em typed and filed + In Sixteen Eighty-two + + Likewise the Lords of Looseness + That hamper faith and works, + The Perseverance-Doubters, + And Present-Comfort shirks, + With brittle intellectuals + Who crack beneath a strain-- + John Bunyan met that helpful set + In Charles the Second's reign. + + Emmanuel's vanguard dying + For right and not for rights, + My Lord Apollyon lying + To the State-kept Stockholmites, + The Pope, the swithering Neutrals, + The Kaiser and his Gott-- + Their roles, their goals, their naked souls-- + He knew and drew the lot. + + Now he hath left his quarters, + In Bunhill Fields to lie. + The wisdom that he taught us + Is proven prophecy-- + One watchword through our armies, + One answer from our lands-- + 'No dealings with Diabolus + As long as Mansoul stands. + + _A pedlar from a hovel, + The lowest of the low, + The father of the Novel, + Salvation's first Defoe, + Eight blinded generations + Ere Armageddon came, + He showed us how to meet it, + And Bunyan was his name!_ + + + + +THE HOUSES + +(A SONG OF THE DOMINIONS) + +1898 + + + 'Twixt my house and thy house the pathway is broad, + In thy house or my house is half the world's hoard; + By my house and thy house hangs all the world's fate, + On thy house and my house lies half the world's hate. + + For my house and thy house no help shall we find + Save thy house and my house--kin cleaving to kind: + If my house be taken, thine tumbleth anon, + If thy house be forfeit, mine followeth soon. + + 'Twixt my house and thy house what talk can there be + Of headship or lordship, or service or fee? + Since my house to thy house no greater can send + Than thy house to my house--friend comforting friend; + And thy house to my house no meaner can bring + Than my house to thy house--King counselling King. + + + + +RUSSIA TO THE PACIFISTS + + + God rest you, peaceful gentlemen, let nothing you dismay, + But--leave your sports a little while--the dead are borne this way! + Armies dead and Cities dead, past all count or care. + God rest you, merry gentlemen, what portent see you there? + Singing.--Break ground for a wearied host + That have no ground to keep. + Give them the rest that they covet most, + And who shall next to sleep, good sirs, + In such a trench to sleep? + + God rest you, peaceful gentlemen, but give us leave to pass. + We go to dig a nation's grave as great as England was. + For this Kingdom and this Glory and this Power and this Pride + Three hundred years it flourished--in three hundred days it died. + Singing--Pour oil for a frozen throng, + That lie about the ways. + Give them the warmth they have lacked so long + And what shall be next to blaze, good sirs, + On such a pyre to blaze? + + God rest you, thoughtful gentlemen, and send your sleep is light! + Remains of this dominion no shadow, sound, or sight, + Except the sound of weeping and the sight of burning fire, + And the shadow of a people that is trampled into mire. + Singing.--Break bread for a starving folk + That perish in the field. + Give them their food as they take the yoke ... + And who shall be next to yield, good sirs, + For such a bribe to yield? + + God rest you, merry gentlemen, and keep you in your mirth! + Was ever kingdom turned so soon to ashes, blood, and earth? + 'Twixt the summer and the snow--seeding-time and frost-- + Arms and victual, hope and counsel, name and country lost! + Singing:--_Let down by the foot and the head-- + Shovel and smooth it all! + So do we bury a Nation dead ..._ + And who shall be next to fall, good sirs, + With your good help to fall? + + + + +THE IRISH GUARDS + +1918 + + + We're not so old in the Army List, + But we're not so young at our trade, + For we had the honour at Fontenoy + Of meeting the Guards' Brigade. + 'Twas Lally, Dillon, Bulkeley, Clare, + And Lee that led us then, + And after a hundred and seventy years + We're fighting for France again! + _Old Days! The wild geese are flighting, + Head to the storm as they faced it before! + For where there are Irish there's bound to be fighting, + And when there's no fighting, it's Ireland no more! + Ireland no more!_ + + The fashion's all for khaki now, + But once through France we went + Full-dressed in scarlet Army cloth, + The English--left at Ghent + They're fighting on our side to-day. + But, before they changed their clothes, + The half of Europe knew our fame, + As all of Ireland knows! + _Old Days! The wild geese are flying, + Head to the storm as they faced it before! + For where there are Irish there's memory undying, + And when we forget, it is Ireland no more! + Ireland no more!_ + + From Barry Wood to Gouzeaucourt, + From Boyne to Pilkem Ridge, + The ancient days come back no more + Than water under the bridge + But the bridge it stands and the water runs + As red as yesterday, + And the Irish move to the sound of the guns + Like salmon to the sea. + _Old Days! The wild geese are ranging, + Head to the storm as they faced it before! + For where there are Irish their hearts are unchanging, + And when they are changed, it is Ireland no more! + Ireland no more!_ + + We're not so old in the Army List, + But we're not so new in the ring, + For we carried our packs with Marshal Saxe + When Louis was our King. + But Douglas Haig's our Marshal now + And we're King George's men, + And after one hundred and seventy years + We're fighting for France again! + _Ah, France! And did we stand by you, + When life was made splendid with gifts and rewards? + Ah, France! And will we deny you + In the hour of your agony, Mother of Swords? + Old Days! The wild geese are flighting, + Head to the storm as they faced it before! + For where there are Irish there's loving and fighting, + And when we stop either, it's Ireland no more! + Ireland no more!_ + + + + +A NATIVITY + +1916 + + + _The Babe was laid in the Manger + Between the gentle kine-- + All safe from cold and danger--_ + 'But it was not so with mine. + (With mine! With mine!) + 'Is it well with the child, is it well?' + The waiting mother prayed. + 'For I know not how he fell, + And I know not where he is laid.' + + _A Star stood forth in Heaven, + The watchers ran to see + The Sign of the Promise given--_ + 'But there comes no sign to me. + (To me! To me!) + '_My_ child died in the dark. + Is it well with the child, is it well? + There was none to tend him or mark, + And I know not how he fell.' + + _The Cross was raised on high; + The Mother grieved beside--_ + 'But the Mother saw Him die + And took Him when He died. + (He died! He died!) + 'Seemly and undefiled + His burial-place was made-- + Is it well, is it well with the child? + For I know not where he is laid.' + + _On the dawning of Easter Day + Comes Mary Magdalene; + But the Stone was rolled away, + And the Body was not within--_ + (Within! Within!) + 'Ah, who will answer my word?' + The broken mother prayed. + 'They have taken away my Lord, + And I know not where He is laid.' + + * * * * * + + _The Star stands forth in Heaven. + The watchers watch in vain + For a Sign of the Promise given + Of peace on Earth again--_ + (Again! Again!) + 'But I know for Whom he fell'-- + The steadfast mother smiled + 'Is it well with the child--is it well? + It is well--it is well with the child!' + + + + +EN-DOR + +'Behold there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at En-dor' + +1 _Samuel_ XXVIII 7 + + + The road to En-dor is easy to tread + For Mother or yearning Wife. + There, it is sure, we shall meet our Dead + As they were even in life. + Earth has not dreamed of the blessing in store + For desolate hearts on the road to En-dor. + + Whispers shall comfort us out of the dark-- + Hands--ah God!--that we knew! + Visions and voices--look and heark!-- + Shall prove that our tale is true, + And that those who have passed to the further shore + May be hailed--at a price--on the road to En-dor. + + But they are so deep in their new eclipse + Nothing they say can reach, + Unless it be uttered by alien lips + And framed in a stranger's speech. + The son must send word to the mother that bore, + Through an hireling's mouth. 'Tis the rule of En-dor. + + And not for nothing these gifts are shown + By such as delight our dead. + They must twitch and stiffen and slaver a groan + Ere the eyes are set in the head, + And the voice from the belly begins. Therefore + We pay them a wage where they ply at En-dor. + + Even so, we have need of faith + And patience to follow the clue. + Often, at first, what the dear one saith + Is babble, or jest, or untrue. + (Lying spirits perplex us sore + Till our loves--and our lives--are well known at En-dor).... + + _Oh the road to En-dor is the oldest road + And the craziest road of all! + Straight it runs to the Witch's abode, + As it did in the days of Saul, + And nothing has changed of the sorrow in store + For such as go down on the road to En-dor!_ + + + + +A RECANTATION + +(TO LYDE OF THE MUSIC HALLS) + + + What boots it on the Gods to call? + Since, answered or unheard, + We perish with the Gods and all + Things made--except the Word. + + Ere certain Fate had touched a heart + By fifty years made cold, + I judged thee, Lyde, and thy art + O'erblown and over-bold. + + But he--but he, of whom bereft + I suffer vacant days-- + He on his shield not meanly left-- + He cherished all thy lays. + + Witness the magic coffer stocked + With convoluted runes + Wherein thy very voice was locked + And linked to circling tunes. + + Witness thy portrait, smoke-defiled, + That decked his shelter-place. + Life seemed more present, wrote the child, + Beneath thy well-known face. + + And when the grudging days restored + Him for a breath to home, + He, with fresh crowds of youth, adored + Thee making mirth in Rome. + + Therefore, I, humble, join the hosts, + Loyal and loud, who bow + To thee as Queen of Songs--and ghosts-- + For I remember how + Never more rampant rose the Hall + At thy audacious line + Than when the news came in from Gaul + Thy son had--followed mine. + + But thou didst hide it in thy breast + And, capering, took the brunt + Of blaze and blare, and launched the jest + That swept next week the front. + + Singer to children! Ours possessed + Sleep before noon--but thee, + Wakeful each midnight for the rest, + No holocaust shall free. + + Yet they who use the Word assigned, + To hearten and make whole, + Not less than Gods have served mankind, + Though vultures rend their soul. + + + + +MY BOY JACK + + + 'Have you news of my boy Jack?' + _Not this tide._ + 'When d'you think that he'll come back?' + _Not with this wind blowing, and this tide._ + + 'Has any one else had word of him?' + _Not this tide. + For what is sunk will hardly swim, + Not with this wind blowing, and this tide._ + + 'Oh, dear, what comfort can I find?' + _None this tide, + Nor any tide, + Except he did not shame his kind-- + Not even with that wind blowing, and that tide._ + + _Then hold your head up all the more, + This tide, + And every tide; + Because he was the son you bore, + And gave to that wind blowing and that tide!_ + + + + +THE VERDICTS + +(JUTLAND) + + + Not in the thick of the fight, + Not in the press of the odds, + Do the heroes come to their height, + Or we know the demi-gods. + + That stands over till peace. + We can only perceive + Men returned from the seas, + Very grateful for leave. + + They grant us sudden days + Snatched from their business of war; + But we are too close to appraise + What manner of men they are. + + And, whether their names go down + With age-kept victories, + Or whether they battle and drown + Unreckoned, is hid from our eyes. + + They are too near to be great, + But our children shall understand + When and how our fate + Was changed, and by whose hand. + + Our children shall measure their worth. + We are content to be blind + But we know that we walk on a new-born earth + With the saviours of mankind. + + + + +MESOPOTAMIA + +1917 + + + They shall not return to us, the resolute, the young, + The eager and whole-hearted whom we gave: + But the men who left them thriftily to die in their own dung, + Shall they come with years and honour to the grave? + + They shall not return to us, the strong men coldly slain + In sight of help denied from day to day: + But the men who edged their agonies and chid them in their pain, + Are they too strong and wise to put away? + + Our dead shall not return to us while Day and Night divide-- + Never while the bars of sunset hold: + But the idle-minded overlings who quibbled while they died, + Shall they thrust for high employments as of old? + + Shall we only threaten and be angry for an hour? + When the storm is ended shall we find + How softly but how swiftly they have sidled back to power + By the favour and contrivance of their kind? + + Even while they soothe us, while they promise large amends, + Even while they make a show of fear, + Do they call upon their debtors, and take council with their friends, + To confirm and re-establish each career? + + Their lives cannot repay us--their death could not undo-- + The shame that they have laid upon our race: + But the slothfulness that wasted and the arrogance that slew, + Shall we leave it unabated in its place? + + + + +THE HYAENAS + + + After the burial-parties leave + And the baffled kites have fled, + The wise hyaenas come out at eve + To take account of our dead. + + How he died and why he died + Troubles them not a whit. + They snout the bushes and stones aside + And dig till they come to it. + + They are only resolute they shall eat + That they and their mates may thrive, + And they know that the dead are safer meat + Than the weakest thing alive. + + (For a goat may butt, and a worm may sting, + And a child will sometimes stand; + But a poor dead soldier of the King + Can never lift a hand.) + + They whoop and halloo and scatter the dirt + Until their tushes white + Take good hold in the army shirt, + And tug the corpse to light, + + And the pitiful face is shewn again + For an instant ere they close; + But it is not discovered to living men-- + Only to God and to those + + Who, being soulless, are free from shame, + Whatever meat they may find. + Nor do they defile the dead man's name-- + That is reserved for his kind. + + + + +THE SPIES' MARCH + +(BEFORE THE WAR) + +('The outbreak is in full swing and our death-rate would sicken +Napoleon.... Dr M---- died last week, and C---- on Monday, but some more +medicines are coming.... We don't seem to be able to check it at all.... +Villages panicking badly.... In some places not a living soul.... But at +any rate the experience gained may come in useful, so I am keeping my +notes written up to date in case of accidents.... Death is a queer chap +to live with for steady company.' _Extracted from a private letter from +Manchuria._) + + + There are no leaders to lead us to honour, and yet without leaders + we sally, + Each man reporting for duty alone, out of sight, out of reach, of + his fellow. + There are no bugles to call the battalions, and yet without bugles + we rally, + From the ends of the earth to the ends of the earth, to follow + the Standard of Yellow! + _Fall in! O fall in! O fall in!_ + + Not where the squadrons mass, + Not where the bayonets shine, + Not where the big shell shout as they pass + Over the firing-line; + Not where the wounded are, + Not where the nations die, + Killed in the cleanly game of war-- + That is no place for a spy! + O Princes, Thrones and Powers, your work is less than ours-- + Here is no place for a spy! + + Trained to another use, + We march with colours furled, + Only concerned when Death breaks loose + On a front of half a world. + Only for General Death + The Yellow Flag may fly, + While we take post beneath-- + That is the place for a spy. + Where Plague has spread his pinions over Nations and Dominions-- + Then will be work for a spy! + + The dropping shots begin, + The single funerals pass, + Our skirmishers run in, + The corpses dot the grass! + The howling towns stampede, + The tainted hamlets die. + Now it is war indeed-- + Now there is room for a spy! + O Peoples, Kings and Lands, we are waiting your commands-- + What is the work for a spy? + (DRUMS)--_'Fear is upon us, spy!_ + + 'Go where his pickets hide-- + Unmask the shapes they take, + Whether a gnat from the waterside, + Or stinging fly in the brake, + Or filth of the crowded street, + Or a sick rat limping by, + Or a smear of spittle dried in the heat-- + That is the work of a spy! + (DRUMS)--_Death is upon us, spy!_ + + + 'What does he next prepare? + Whence will he move to attack?-- + By water, earth or air?-- + How can we head him back? + Shall we starve him out if we burn + Or bury his food-supply? + Slip through his lines and learn-- + That is work for a spy! + (DRUMS)--_Get to your business, spy!_ + + 'Does he feint or strike in force? + Will he charge or ambuscade? + What is it checks his course? + Is he beaten or only delayed? + How long will the lull endure? + Is he retreating? Why? + Crawl to his camp and make sure-- + That is the work for a spy! + (DRUMS)--_Fetch us our answer, spy!_ + + 'Ride with him girth to girth + Wherever the Pale Horse wheels, + Wait on his councils, ear to earth, + And say what the dust reveals. + For the smoke of our torment rolls + Where the burning thousands lie; + What do we care for men's bodies or souls? + Bring us deliverance, spy!' + + + + +THE SONS OF MARTHA + + + The Sons of Mary seldom bother, for they have inherited that good + part, + But the Sons of Martha favour their Mother of the careful soul and + the troubled heart. + And because she lost her temper once, and because she was rude to + the Lord her Guest, + Her Sons must wait upon Mary's Sons, world without end, reprieve, + or rest. + + It is their care in all the ages to take the buffet and cushion the + shock. + It is their care that the gear engages; it is their care that the + switches lock. + It is their care that the wheels run truly; it is their care to + embark and entrain, + Tally, transport, and deliver duly the Sons of Mary by land and + main. + + They say to mountains 'Be ye removed.' They say to the lesser floods + 'Be dry.' + Under their rods are the rocks reproved--they are not afraid of that + which is high. + Then do the hill-tops shake to the summit--then is the bed of the + deep laid bare, + That the Sons of Mary may overcome it, pleasantly sleeping and + unaware. + + They finger death at their gloves' end where they piece and repiece + the living wires. + He rears against the gates they rend: they feed him hungry behind + their fires. + Early at dawn, ere men see clear, they stumble into his terrible + stall, + And hale him forth like a haltered steer, and goad and turn him till + evenfall. + + To these from birth is Belief forbidden; from these till death is + Relief afar. + They are concerned with matters hidden--under the earth-line their + altars are. + The secret fountains to follow up, waters withdrawn to restore to + the mouth, + And gather the floods as in a cup, and pour them again at a city's + drouth. + + They do not preach that their God will rouse them a little before + the nuts work loose. + They do not teach that His Pity allows them to leave their work when + they damn-well choose. + As in the thronged and the lighted ways, so in the dark and the + desert they stand, + Wary and watchful all their days that their brethren's days may be + long in the land. + + Raise ye the stone or cleave the wood to make a path more fair or + flat, + Lo, it is black already with blood some Son of Martha spilled for + that! + Not as a ladder from earth to Heaven, not as a witness to any creed, + But simple service simply given to his own kind in their common + need. + + And the Sons of Mary smile and are blessed--they know the angels are + on their side. + They know in them is the Grace confessed, and for them are the + Mercies multiplied. + They sit at the Feet--they hear the Word--they see how truly the + Promise runs: + They have cast their burden upon the Lord, and--the Lord He lays it + on Martha's Sons! + + + + +MARY'S SON + + + If you stop to find out what your wages will be + And how they will clothe and feed you, + Willie, my son, don't you go on the Sea, + For the Sea will never need you. + + If you ask for the reason of every command, + And argue with people about you, + Willie, my son, don't you go on the Land, + For the Land will do better without you. + + If you stop to consider the work you have done + And to boast what your labour is worth, dear, + Angels may come for you, Willie, my son, + But you'll never be wanted on Earth, dear! + + + + +THE SONG OF THE LATHES + +1918 + +(Being the words of the tune hummed at her lathe by Mrs. L. Embsay, +widow.) + + + The fans and the beltings they roar round me. + The power is shaking the floor round me + Till the lathes pick up their duty and the midnight-shift takes + over. + It is good for me to be here! + + _Guns in Flanders--Flanders guns! + (I had a man that worked 'em once!) + Shells for guns in Flanders, Flanders! + Shells for guns in Flanders, Flanders! + Shells for guns in Flanders! Feed the guns!_ + + The cranes and the carriers they boom over me, + The bays and the galleries they loom over me, + With their quarter-mile of pillars growing little in the distance: + It is good for me to be here! + + The Zeppelins and Gothas they raid over us. + Our lights give warning, and fade over us. + (Seven thousand women keeping quiet in the darkness!) + Oh, it is good for me to be here! + + The roofs and the buildings they grow round me, + Eating up the fields I used to know round me; + And the shed that I began in is a sub-inspector's office-- + So long have I been here! + + I've seen six hundred mornings make our lamps grow dim, + Through the bit that isn't painted round our skylight rim, + And the sunshine in the window slope according to the seasons, + Twice since I've been here. + + The trains on the sidings they call to us + With the hundred thousand blanks that they haul to us; + And we send 'em what we've finished, and they take it where it's + wanted, + For that is why we are here! + + Man's hate passes as his love will pass. + God made woman what she always was. + Them that bear the burden they will never grant forgiveness + So long as they are here! + + Once I was a woman, but that's by with me. + All I loved and looked for, it must die with me. + But the Lord has left me over for a servant of the Judgment, + And I serve His Judgments here! + + _Guns in Flanders--Flanders guns! + (I had a son that worked 'em once!) + Shells for guns in Flanders, Flanders! + Shells for guns in Flanders, Flanders! + Shells for guns in Flanders! Feed the guns!_ + + + + +GETHSEMANE + + + The Garden called Gethsemane + In Picardy it was, + And there the people came to see + The English soldiers pass. + We used to pass--we used to pass + Or halt, as it might be, + And ship our masks in case of gas + Beyond Gethsemane. + + The Garden called Gethsemane, + It held a pretty lass, + But all the time she talked to me + I prayed my cup might pass. + The officer sat on the chair, + The men lay on the grass, + And all the time we halted there + I prayed my cup might pass-- + + It didn't pass--it didn't pass-- + It didn't pass from me. + I drank it when we met the gas + Beyond Gethsemane. + + + + +THE PRO-CONSULS + + + _The overfaithful sword returns the user + His heart's desire at price of his heart's blood. + The clamour of the arrogant accuser + Wastes that one hour we needed to make good. + This was foretold of old at our outgoing; + This we accepted who have squandered, knowing, + The strength and glory of our reputations, + At the day's need, as it were dross, to guard + The tender and new-dedicate foundations + Against the sea we fear--not man's award._ + + They that dig foundations deep, + Fit for realms to rise upon, + Little honour do they reap + Of their generation, + Any more than mountains gain + Stature till we reach the plain. + + With no veil before their face + Such as shroud or sceptre lend-- + Daily in the market-place, + Of one height to foe and friend-- + They must cheapen self to find + Ends uncheapened for mankind. + + Through the night when hirelings rest, + Sleepless they arise, alone, + The unsleeping arch to test + And the o'er-trusted corner-stone, + 'Gainst the need, they know, that lies + Hid behind the centuries. + + Not by lust of praise or show, + Not by Peace herself betrayed-- + Peace herself must they forego + Till that peace be fitly made; + And in single strength uphold + Wearier hands and hearts acold. + + On the stage their act hath framed + For thy sports, O Liberty! + Doubted are they, and defamed + By the tongues their act set free, + While they quicken, tend and raise + Power that must their power displace. + + Lesser men feign greater goals, + Failing whereof they may sit + Scholarly to judge the souls + That go down into the pit, + And, despite its certain clay, + Heave a new world towards the day. + + These at labour make no sign, + More than planets, tides or years + Which discover God's design, + Not our hopes and not our fears; + Nor in aught they gain or lose + Seek a triumph or excuse. + + _For, so the Ark be borne to Zion, who + Heeds how they perished or were paid that bore it? + For, so the Shrine abide, what shame--what pride-- + If we, the priests, were bound or crowned before it?_ + + + + +THE CRAFTSMAN + + + Once, after long-drawn revel at The Mermaid, + He to the overbearing Boanerges + Jonson, uttered (If half of it were liquor, + Blessed be the vintage!) + + Saying how, at an alehouse under Cotswold, + He had made sure of his very Cleopatra, + Drunk with enormous, salvation-contemning + Love for a tinker. + + How, while he hid from Sir Thomas's keepers, + Crouched in a ditch and drenched by the midnight + Dews, he had listened to gipsy Juliet + Rail at the dawning. + + How at Bankside, a boy drowning kittens + Winced at the business; whereupon his sister + (Lady Macbeth aged seven) thrust 'em under, + Sombrely scornful. + + How on a Sabbath, hushed and compassionate-- + She being known since her birth to the townsfolk-- + Stratford dredged and delivered from Avon + Dripping Ophelia. + + So, with a thin third finger marrying + Drop to wine-drop domed on the table, + Shakespeare opened his heart till sunrise + Entered to hear him. + + London wakened and he, imperturbable, + Passed from waking to hurry after shadows ... + Busied upon shows of no earthly importance? + Yes, but he knew it! + + + + +THINGS AND THE MAN + +(IN MEMORIAM, JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN) + +1904 + +'And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren; and they hated +him yet the more.'--_Genesis_ XXXVII. 5. + + + Oh ye who hold the written clue + To all save all unwritten things, + And, half a league behind, pursue + The accomplished Fact with flouts and flings, + Look! To your knee your baby brings + The oldest tale since Earth began-- + The answer to your worryings + _'Once on a time there was a Man.'_ + + He, single-handed, met and slew + Magicians, Armies, Ogres, Kings. + He lonely 'mid his doubting crew-- + 'In all the loneliness of wings'-- + He fed the flame, he filled the springs, + He locked the ranks, he launched the van + Straight at the grinning Teeth of Things. + _'Once on a time there was a Man.'_ + + The peace of shocked Foundations flew + Before his ribald questionings. + He broke the Oracles in two, + And bared the paltry wires and strings. + He headed desert wanderings, + He led his soul, his cause, his clan + A little from the ruck of Things. + _'Once on a time there was a Man.'_ + + Thrones, Powers, Dominions block the view + With episodes and underlings-- + The meek historian deems them true + Nor heeds the song that Clio sings-- + The simple central truth that stings + The mob to boo, the priest to ban; + _Things never yet created things-- + 'Once on a time there was a Man.'_ + + A bolt is fallen from the blue. + A wakened realm full circle swings + Where Dothan's dreamer dreams anew + Of vast and farborne harvestings; + And unto him an Empire clings + That grips the purpose of his plan. + My Lords, how think you of these things? + _Once--in our time--is there a Man?_ + + + + +THE BENEFACTORS + + + _Ah! What avails the classic bent + And what the cultured word, + Against the undoctored incident + That actually occurred?_ + + _And what is Art whereto we press + Through paint and prose and rhyme-- + When Nature in her nakedness + Defeats us every time?_ + + It is not learning, grace nor gear, + Nor easy meat and drink, + But bitter pinch of pain and fear + That makes creation think. + + When in this world's unpleasing youth + Our god-like race began, + The longest arm, the sharpest tooth, + Gave man control of man; + + Till, bruised and bitten to the bone + And taught by pain and fear, + He learned to deal the far-off stone, + And poke the long, safe spear. + + So tooth and nail were obsolete + As means against a foe, + Till, bored by uniform defeat, + Some genius built the bow. + + Then stone and javelin proved as vain + As old-time tooth and nail, + Ere, spurred anew by fear and pain, + Man fashioned coats of mail. + + Then was there safety for the rich + And danger for the poor, + Till someone mixed a powder which + Redressed the scale once more. + + Helmet and armour disappeared + With sword and bow and pike, + And, when the smoke of battle cleared, + All men were armed alike.... + + And when ten million such were slain + To please one crazy king, + Man, schooled in bulk by fear and pain, + Grew weary of the thing; + + And, at the very hour designed, + To enslave him past recall, + His tooth-stone-arrow-gun-shy mind + Turned and abolished all. + + * * * * * + + _All Power, each Tyrant, every Mob + Whose head has grown too large, + Ends by destroying its own job + And earns its own discharge._ + + _And Man, whose mere necessities + Move all things from his path, + Trembles meanwhile at their decrees, + And deprecates their wrath!_ + + + + +THE DEAD KING + +(EDWARD VII.) + +1910 + + + _Who in the Realm to-day lays down dear life for the sake of a land + more dear? + And, unconcerned for his own estate, toils till the last grudged + sands have run? + Let him approach. It is proven here + Our King asks nothing of any man more than Our King himself has + done._ + + For to him above all was Life good, above all he commanded + Her abundance full-handed. + The peculiar treasure of Kings was his for the taking: + All that men come to in dreams he inherited waking:-- + + His marvel of world-gathered armies--one heart and all races, + His seas 'neath his keels when his war-castles foamed to their + places; + The thundering foreshores that answered his heralded landing; + The huge lighted cities adoring, the assemblies upstanding; + The Councils of Kings called in haste to learn how he was minded-- + The Kingdoms, the Powers, and the Glories he dealt with unblinded. + + To him came all captains of men, all achievers of glory, + Hot from the press of their battles they told him their story. + They revealed him their life in an hour and, saluting, departed, + Joyful to labour afresh--he had made them new-hearted. + And, since he weighed men from his youth, and no lie long deceived + him, + He spoke and exacted the truth, and the basest believed him. + + And God poured him an exquisite wine, that was daily renewed to him, + In the clear-welling love of his peoples that daily accrued to him. + Honour and service we gave him, rejoicingly fearless; + Faith absolute, trust beyond speech and a friendship as peerless. + And since he was Master and Servant in all that we asked him, + We leaned hard on his wisdom in all things, knowing not how we + tasked him. + + For on Him each new day laid command, every tyrannous hour, + To confront, or confirm, or make smooth some dread issue of power; + To deliver true judgment aright at the instant, unaided, + In the strict, level, ultimate phrase that allowed or dissuaded; + To foresee, to allay, to avert from us perils unnumbered, + To stand guard on our gates when he guessed that the watchmen had + slumbered; + To win time, to turn hate, to woo folly to service and, mightily + schooling + His strength to the use of his Nations, to rule as not ruling. + These were the works of our King; Earth's peace was the proof of + them. + God gave him great works to fulfil, and to us the behoof of them. + We accepted his toil as our right--none spared, none excused him. + When he was bowed by his burden his rest was refused him. + We troubled his age with our weakness--the blacker our shame to us! + Hearing his People had need of him, straightway he came to us. + + As he received so he gave--nothing grudged, naught denying, + Not even the last gasp of his breath when he strove for us, dying + For our sakes, without question, he put from him all that he + cherished. + Simply as any that serve him he served and he perished. + All that Kings covet was his, and he flung it aside for us. + Simply as any that die in his service he died for us. + + _Who in the Realm to-day has choice of the easy road or the hard to + tread? + And, much concerned for his own estate, would sell his soul to + remain in the sun? + Let him depart nor look on Our dead. + Our King asks nothing of any man more than Our King himself has + done._ + + + + +A DEATH-BED + + + 'This is the State above the Law. + The State exists for the State alone.' + [_This is a gland at the back of the jaw,_ + _And an answering lump by the collar-bone._] + + Some die shouting in gas or fire; + Some die silent, by shell and shot. + Some die desperate, caught on the wire; + Some die suddenly. This will not. + + 'Regis suprema Voluntas lex.' + [_It will follow the regular course of--throats._] + Some die pinned by the broken decks, + Some die sobbing between the boats. + + Some die eloquent, pressed to death + By the sliding trench, as their friends can hear. + Some die wholly in half a breath + Some--give trouble for half a year. + + 'There is neither Evil nor Good in life + Except as the needs of the State ordain.' + [_Since it is rather too late for the knife, + All we can do is to mask the pain._] + + Some die saintly in faith and hope-- + One died thus in a prison-yard-- + Some die broken by rape or the rope; + Some die easily. This dies hard. + + 'I will dash to pieces who bar my way. + Woe to the traitor! Woe to the weak!' + [_Let him write what he wishes to say. + It tires him out if he tries to speak._] + + Some die quietly. Some abound + In loud self-pity. Others spread + Bad morale through the cots around ... + This is a type that is better dead. + + 'The war was forced on me by my foes. + All that I sought was the right to live.' + [_Don't be afraid of a triple dose; + The pain will neutralize half we give._ + + _Here are the needles. See that he dies + While the effects of the drug endure.... + What is the question he asks with his eyes?-- + Yes, All-Highest, to God, be sure._] + + + + +GEHAZI + + + 'Whence comest thou, Gehazi, + So reverend to behold, + In scarlet and in ermines + And chain of England's gold?' + 'From following after Naaman + To tell him all is well, + Whereby my zeal hath made me + A Judge in Israel.' + + Well done, well done, Gehazi, + Stretch forth thy ready hand, + Thou barely 'scaped from judgment, + Take oath to judge the land, + Unswayed by gift of money + Or privy bribe, more base, + Of knowledge which is profit + In any market-place. + + Search out and probe, Gehazi, + As thou of all canst try, + The truthful, well-weighed answer + That tells the blacker lie-- + The loud, uneasy virtue, + The anger feigned at will, + To overbear a witness + And make the Court keep still. + + Take order now, Gehazi, + That no man talk aside + In secret with his judges + The while his case is tried. + Lest he should show them--reason + To keep a matter hid, + And subtly lead the questions + Away from what he did. + + Thou mirror of uprightness, + What ails thee at thy vows? + What means the risen whiteness + Of the skin between thy brows? + The boils that shine and burrow, + The sores that slough and bleed-- + The leprosy of Naaman + On thee and all thy seed? + Stand up, stand up, Gehazi, + Draw close thy robe and go, + Gehazi, Judge in Israel, + A leper white as snow! + + + + +THE VIRGINITY + + + Try as he will, no man breaks wholly loose + From his first love, no matter who she be. + Oh, was there ever sailor free to choose, + That didn't settle somewhere near the sea? + + Myself, it don't excite me nor amuse + To watch a pack o' shipping on the sea, + But I can understand my neighbour's views + From certain things which have occurred to me. + + Men must keep touch with things they used to use + To earn their living, even when they are free; + And so come back upon the least excuse-- + Same as the sailor settled near the sea. + + He knows he's never going on no cruise-- + He knows he's done and finished with the sea, + And yet he likes to feel she's there to use-- + If he should ask her--as she used to be. + + Even though she cost him all he had to lose, + Even though she made him sick to hear or see, + Still, what she left of him will mostly choose + Her skirts to sit by. How comes such to be? + + _Parsons in pulpits, tax-payers in pews, + Kings on your thrones, you know as well as me, + We've only one virginity to lose, + And where we lost it there our hearts will be!_ + + + + +A PILGRIM'S WAY + + + I do not look for holy saints to guide me on my way, + Or male and female devilkins to lead my feet astray. + If these are added, I rejoice--if not, I shall not mind, + So long as I have leave and choice to meet my fellow-kind. + For as we come and as we go (and deadly-soon go we!) + The people, Lord, Thy people, are good enough for me! + + Thus I will honour pious men whose virtue shines so bright + (Though none are more amazed than I when I by chance do right), + And I will pity foolish men for woe their sins have bred + (Though ninety-nine per cent. of mine I brought on my own head) + And, Amorite or Eremite, or General Averagee, + The people, Lord, Thy people, are good enough for me! + + And when they bore me overmuch, I will not shake mine ears, + Recalling many thousand such whom I have bored to tears. + And when they labour to impress, I will not doubt nor scoff; + Since I myself have done no less and--sometimes pulled it off. + Yea, as we are and we are not, and we pretend to be, + The people, Lord, Thy people, are good enough for me! + + And when they work me random wrong, as often-times hath been, + I will not cherish hate too long (my hands are none too clean) + And when they do me random good I will not feign surprise, + No more than those whom I have cheered with wayside charities. + But, as we give and as we take--whate'er our takings be-- + The people, Lord, Thy people, are good enough for me! + + But when I meet with frantic folk who sinfully declare + There is no pardon for their sin, the same I will not spare + Till I have proved that Heaven and Hell which in our hearts we have + Show nothing irredeemable on either side the grave. + For as we live and as we die--if utter Death there be-- + The people, Lord, Thy people, are good enough for me! + + Deliver me from every pride--the Middle, High, and Low-- + That bars me from a brother's side, whatever pride he show. + And purge me from all heresies of thought and speech and pen + That bid me judge him otherwise than I am judged. _Amen!_ + That I may sing of Crowd or King or road-borne company, + That I may labour in my day, vocation and degree, + To prove the same in deed and name, and hold unshakenly + (Where'er I go, whate'er I know, whoe'er my neighbour be) + This single faith in Life and Death and all Eternity + 'The people, Lord, Thy people, are good enough for me!' + + + + +THE OLDEST SONG + +For before Eve was Lilith--_Old Tale._ + + + These were never your true love's eyes. + Why do you feign that you love them? + You that broke from their constancies, + And the wide calm brows above them! + + This was never your true love's speech. + Why do you thrill when you hear it? + You that have ridden out of its reach + The width of the world or near it! + + This was never your true love's hair,-- + You that chafed when it bound you + Screened from knowledge or shame or care, + In the night that it made around you! + + '_All these things I know, I know._ + _And that's why my heart is breaking!_' + Then what do you gain by pretending so? + '_The joy of an old wound waking._' + + + + +NATURAL THEOLOGY + + +PRIMITIVE + + I ate my fill of a whale that died, + And stranded after a month at sea.... + There is a pain in my inside. + Why have the Gods afflicted me? + Ow! I am purged till I am a wraith! + Wow! I am sick till I cannot see! + What is the sense of Religion and Faith? + Look how the Gods have afflicted me! + + +PAGAN + + How can the skin of rat or mouse hold + Anything more than a harmless flea?... + The burning plague has taken my household. + Why have my Gods afflicted me? + + All my kith and kin are deceased, + Though they were as good as good could be. + I will out and batter the family priest, + Because my Gods have afflicted me. + + +MEDIAEVAL + + My privy and well drain into each other + After the custom of Christendie.... + Fevers and fluxes are wasting my mother. + Why has the Lord afflicted me? + The Saints are helpless for all I offer-- + So are the clergy I used to fee + Henceforward I keep my cash in my coffer, + Because the Lord has afflicted me. + + +MATERIAL + + I run eight hundred hens to the acre. + They die by dozens mysteriously.... + I am more than doubtful concerning my Maker. + Why has the Lord afflicted me? + What a return for all my endeavour-- + Not to mention the L. S. D.! + I am an atheist now and for ever, + Because this God has afflicted me! + + +PROGRESSIVE + + Money spent on an Army or Fleet + Is homicidal lunacy.... + My son has been killed in the Mons retreat. + Why is the Lord afflicting me? + Why are murder, pillage and arson + And rape allowed by the Deity? + I will write to the _Times_, deriding our parson + Because my God has afflicted me. + + +CHORUS + + We had a kettle, we let it leak; + Our not repairing it made it worse. + We haven't had any tea for a week.... + The bottom is out of the Universe! + + +CONCLUSION + + This was none of the good Lord's pleasure, + For the Spirit He breathed in Man is free; + But what comes after is measure for measure + And not a God that afflicteth thee. + As was the sowing so the reaping + Is now and evermore shall be. + Thou art delivered to thy own keeping. + Only Thyself hath afflicted thee! + + + + +A SONG AT COCK-CROW + +'_Ille autem iterum negavit._' + + + The first time that Peter denied his Lord + He shrank from the cudgel, the scourge and the cord, + But followed far off to see what they would do, + Till the cock crew--till the cock crew-- + After Gethsemane, till the cock crew! + + The first time that Peter denied his Lord + 'Twas only a maid in the palace who heard, + As he sat by the fire and warmed himself through. + Then the cock crew! Then the cock crew! + ('Thou also art one of them.') Then the cock crew! + + The first time that Peter denied his Lord + He had neither the Throne, nor the Keys nor the Sword-- + A poor silly fisherman, what could he do + When the cock crew--when the cock crew-- + But weep for his wickedness when the cock crew? + + * * * * * + + The next time that Peter denied his Lord + He was Fisher of Men, as foretold by the Word, + With the Crown on his brow and the Cross on his shoe, + When the cock crew--when the cock crew-- + _In Flanders and Picardy when the cock crew_. + + The next time that Peter denied his Lord + 'Twas Mary the Mother in Heaven Who heard, + And She grieved for the maidens and wives that they slew + When the cock crew--when the cock crew-- + _At Tirmonde and Aerschott when the cock crew_. + + The next time that Peter denied his Lord + The Babe in the Manger awakened and stirred, + And He stretched out His arms for the playmates He knew-- + When the cock crew--when the cock crew-- + _But the waters had covered them when the cock crew_. + + The next time that Peter denied his Lord + 'Twas Earth in her agony waited his word, + But he sat by the fire and naught would he do, + Though the cock crew--though the cock crew-- + _Over all Christendom, though the cock crew_. + + The last time that Peter denied his Lord, + The Father took from him the Keys and the Sword, + And the Mother and Babe brake his Kingdom in two, + When the cock crew--when the cock crew-- + (_Because of his wickedness_) _when the cock crew_! + + + + +THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES + +1911 + + + When the Himalayan peasant meets the he-bear in his pride, + He shouts to scare the monster, who will often turn aside. + But the she-bear thus accosted rends the peasant tooth and nail + For the female of the species is more deadly than the male. + + When Nag the basking cobra hears the careless foot of man, + He will sometimes wriggle sideways and avoid it as he can. + But his mate makes no such motion where she camps beside the trail. + For the female of the species is more deadly than the male. + + When the early Jesuit fathers preached to Hurons and Choctaws, + They prayed to be delivered from the vengeance of the squaws. + 'Twas the women, not the warriors, turned those stark enthusiasts + pale + For the female of the species is more deadly than the male. + + Man's timid heart is bursting with the things he must not say, + For the Woman that God gave him isn't his to give away; + But when hunter meets with husband, each confirms the other's tale-- + The female of the species is more deadly than the male. + + Man, a bear in most relations--worm and savage otherwise,-- + Man propounds negotiations, Man accepts the compromise. + Very rarely will he squarely push the logic of a fact + To its ultimate conclusion in unmitigated act. + + Fear, or foolishness, impels him, ere he lay the wicked low, + To concede some form of trial even to his fiercest foe. + Mirth obscene diverts his anger! Doubt and Pity oft perplex + Him in dealing with an issue--to the scandal of The Sex! + + But the Woman that God gave him, every fibre of her frame + Proves her launched for one sole issue, armed and engined for the + same; + And to serve that single issue, lest the generations fail, + The female of the species must be deadlier than the male. + + She who faces Death by torture for each life beneath her breast + May not deal in doubt or pity--must not swerve for fact or jest. + These be purely male diversions--not in these her honour dwells. + She the Other Law we live by, is that Law and nothing else. + + She can bring no more to living than the powers that make her great + As the Mother of the Infant and the Mistress of the Mate! + And when Babe and Man are lacking and she strides unclaimed to claim + Her right as femme (and baron), her equipment is the same. + + She is wedded to convictions--in default of grosser ties; + Her contentions are her children, Heaven help him who denies!-- + He will meet no suave discussion, but the instant, white-hot, wild, + Wakened female of the species warring as for spouse and child. + + Unprovoked and awful charges--even so the she-bear fights, + Speech that drips, corrodes, and poisons--even so the cobra bites, + Scientific vivisection of one nerve till it is raw + And the victim writhes in anguish--like the Jesuit with the squaw! + + So it comes that Man the coward, when he gathers to confer + With his fellow-braves in council, dare not leave a place for her + Where, at war with Life and Conscience, he uplifts his erring hands + To some God of Abstract Justice--which no woman understands. + + And Man knows it! Knows, moreover, that the Woman that God gave him + Must command but may not govern--shall enthral but not enslave him. + And _She_ knows, because She warns him and Her instincts never fail, + That the Female of Her Species is more deadly than the Male. + + + + +EPITAPHS + + +'EQUALITY OF SACRIFICE' + + _A._ 'I was a "have."' _B._ 'I was a "have-not."' + (_Together_) 'What hast thou given which I gave not?' + + +A SERVANT + + We were together since the War began + He was my servant--and the better man. + + +A SON + + My son was killed while laughing at some jest. I would I knew + What it was, and it might serve me in a time when jests are few. + + +AN ONLY SON + + I have slain none except my Mother, She + (Blessing her slayer) died of grief for me. + + +EX-CLERK + + Pity not! The Army gave + Freedom to a timid slave: + In which Freedom did he find + Strength of body, will, and mind: + By which strength he came to prove + Mirth, Companionship, and Love: + For which Love to Death he went: + In which Death he lies content. + + +THE WONDER + + Body and Spirit I surrendered whole + To harsh Instructors--and received a soul ... + If mortal man could change me through and through + From all I was--what may The God not do? + + +HINDU SEPOY IN FRANCE + + This man in his own country prayed we know not to what Powers. + We pray Them to reward him for his bravery in ours. + + +THE COWARD + + I could not look on Death, which being known, + Men led me to him, blindfold and alone. + + +SHOCK + + My name, my speech, my self I had forgot. + My wife and children came--I knew them not. + I died. My Mother followed. At her call + And on her bosom I remembered all. + + +A GRAVE NEAR CAIRO + + Gods of the Nile, should this stout fellow here + Get out--get out! He knows not shame nor fear. + + +PELICANS IN THE WILDERNESS + +(A GRAVE NEAR HALFA) + + The blown sand heaps on me, that none may learn + Where I am laid for whom my children grieve.... + O wings that beat at dawning, ye return + Out of the desert to your young at eve! + + +THE FAVOUR + + Death favoured me from the first, well knowing I could not endure + To wait on him day by day. He quitted my betters and came + Whistling over the fields, and, when he had made all sure, + 'Thy line is at end,' he said, 'but at least I have saved its + name.' + + +THE BEGINNER + + On the first hour of my first day + In the front trench I fell. + (Children in boxes at a play + Stand up to watch it well.) + + +R. A. F. (AGED EIGHTEEN) + + Laughing through clouds, his milk-teeth still unshed, + Cities and men he smote from overhead. + His deaths delivered, he returned to play + Childlike, with childish things now put away. + + +THE REFINED MAN + + I was of delicate mind. I went aside for my needs, + Disdaining the common office. I was seen from afar and killed.... + How is this matter for mirth? Let each man be judged by his deeds + _I have paid my price to live with myself on the terms that I + willed._ + + +NATIVE WATER-CARRIER (M. E. F.) + + Prometheus brought down fire to men. + This brought up water. + The Gods are jealous--now, as then, + They gave no quarter. + + +BOMBED IN LONDON + + On land and sea I strove with anxious care + To escape conscription. It was in the air! + + +THE SLEEPY SENTINEL + + Faithless the watch that I kept: now I have none to keep. + I was slain because I slept: now I am slain I sleep. + Let no man reproach me again, whatever watch is unkept-- + I sleep because I am slain. They slew me because I slept. + + +BATTERIES OUT OF AMMUNITION + + If any mourn us in the workshop, say + We died because the shift kept holiday. + + +COMMON FORM + + If any question why we died, + Tell them, because our fathers lied. + + +A DEAD STATESMAN + + I could not dig; I dared not rob: + Therefore I lied to please the mob. + Now all my lies are proved untrue, + And I must face the men I slew. + What tale shall save me here among + Mine angry and defrauded young? + + +THE REBEL + + If I had clamoured at Thy Gate + For gift of Life on Earth, + And, thrusting through the souls that wait, + Flung headlong into birth-- + Even then, even then, for gin and snare + About my pathway spread, + Lord, I had mocked Thy thoughtful care + Before I joined the Dead! + But now?... I was beneath Thy Hand + Ere yet the Planets came. + And now--though Planets pass, I stand + The witness to Thy Shame. + + +THE OBEDIENT + + Daily, though no ears attended, + Did my prayers arise + Daily, though no fire descended + Did I sacrifice.... + Though my darkness did not lift, + Though I faced no lighter odds, + Though the Gods bestowed no gift, + None the less, + None the less, I served the Gods! + + +A DRIFTER OFF TARENTUM + + He from the wind-bitten north with ship and companions descended, + Searching for eggs of death spawned by invisible hulls. + Many he found and drew forth. Of a sudden the fishery ended + In flame and a clamorous breath not new to the eye-pecking gulls. + + +DESTROYERS IN COLLISION + + For Fog and Fate no charm is found + To lighten or amend. + I, hurrying to my bride, was drowned-- + Cut down by my best friend. + + +CONVOY ESCORT + + I was a shepherd to fools + Causelessly bold or afraid. + They would not abide by my rules. + Yet they escaped. For I stayed. + + +UNKNOWN FEMALE CORPSE + + Headless, lacking foot and hand, + Horrible I come to land. + I beseech all women's sons + Know I was a mother once. + + +RAPED AND REVENGED + + One used and butchered me: another spied + Me broken--for which thing a hundred died. + So it was learned among the heathen hosts + How much a freeborn woman's favour costs. + + +SALONIKAN GRAVE + + I have watched a thousand days + Push out and crawl into night + Slowly as tortoises + Now I, too, follow these. + It is fever, and not fight-- + Time, not battle--that slays. + + +THE BRIDEGROOM + + Call me not false, beloved, + If, from thy scarce-known breast + So little time removed, + In other arms I rest. + + For this more ancient bride + Whom coldly I embrace + Was constant at my side + Before I saw thy face. + + Our marriage, often set-- + By miracle delayed-- + At last is consummate, + And cannot be unmade. + + Live, then, whom Life shall cure, + Almost, of Memory, + And leave us to endure + Its immortality. + + +V. A. D. (MEDITERRANEAN) + + Ah, would swift ships had never been, for then we ne'er had found, + These harsh AEgean rocks between, this little virgin drowned, + Whom neither spouse nor child shall mourn, but men she nursed + through pain + And--certain keels for whose return the heathen look in vain. + + + + +'THE CITY OF BRASS' + +1909 + + Here was a people whom after their works thou shalt see wept over + for their lost dominion: and in this palace is the last information + respecting lords collected in the dust. + + _The Arabian Nights_ + + + _In a land that the sand overlays--the ways to her gates are + untrod-- + A multitude ended their days whose fates were made splendid by God, + Till they grew drunk and were smitten with madness and went to their + fall, + And of these is a story written: but Allah alone knoweth all!_ + + When the wine stirred in their heart their bosoms dilated, + They rose to suppose themselves kings over all things created-- + To decree a new earth at a birth without labour or sorrow-- + To declare: 'We prepare it to-day and inherit to-morrow.' + They chose themselves prophets and priests of minute understanding, + Men swift to see done, and outrun, their extremest commanding-- + Of the tribe which describe with a jibe the perversions of Justice-- + Panders avowed to the crowd whatsoever its lust is. + + Swiftly these pulled down the walls that their fathers had made + them-- + The impregnable ramparts of old, they razed and relaid them + As playgrounds of pleasure and leisure with limitless entries, + And havens of rest for the wastrels where once walked the sentries; + And because there was need of more pay for the shouters and + marchers, + They disbanded in face of their foemen their bowmen and archers. + They replied to their well-wishers' fears--to their enemies' + laughter, + Saying: 'Peace! We have fashioned a God Which shall save us + hereafter. + We ascribe all dominion to man in his factions conferring, + And have given to numbers the Name of the Wisdom unerring.' + They said: 'Who has hate in his soul? Who has envied his neighbour? + Let him arise and control both that man and his labour.' + They said: 'Who is eaten by sloth? Whose unthrift has destroyed him? + He shall levy a tribute from all because none have employed him.' + They said: 'Who hath toiled? Who hath striven, and gathered + possession? + Let him be spoiled. He hath given full proof of transgression.' + They said. 'Who is irked by the Law? _Though we may not remove it, + If he lend us his aid in this raid, we will set him above it!_' + So the robber did judgment again upon such as displeased him, + The slayer, too, boasted his slain, and the judges released him. + + As for their kinsmen far off, on the skirts of the nation, + They harried all earth to make sure none escaped reprobation, + They awakened unrest for a jest in their newly-won borders, + And jeered at the blood of their brethren betrayed by their orders. + They instructed the ruled to rebel, their rulers to aid them; + And, since such as obeyed them not fell, their Viceroys obeyed them. + When the riotous set them at naught they said: 'Praise the upheaval! + For the show and the word and the thought of Dominion is evil!' + + They unwound and flung from them with rage, as a rag that defiled + them + The imperial gains of the age which their forefathers piled them. + They ran panting in haste to lay waste and embitter for ever + The wellsprings of Wisdom and Strength which are Faith and + Endeavour. + They nosed out and digged up and dragged forth and exposed to + derision + All doctrine of purpose and worth and restraint and prevision: + And it ceased, and God granted them all things for which they had + striven, + And the heart of a beast in the place of a man's heart was given.... + + * * * * * + + When they were fullest of wine and most flagrant in error, + Out of the sea rose a sign--out of Heaven a terror. + Then they saw, then they heard, then they knew--for none troubled + to hide it, + An host had prepared their destruction, but still they denied it. + They denied what they dared not abide if it came to the trial, + But the Sword that was forged while they lied did not heed their + denial. + It drove home, and no time was allowed to the crowd that was driven. + The preposterous-minded were cowed--they thought time would be + given. + There was no need of a steed nor a lance to pursue them; + It was decreed their own deed, and not chance, should undo them + The tares they had laughingly sown were ripe to the reaping, + The trust they had leagued to disown was removed from their keeping. + The eaters of other men's bread, the exempted from hardship, + The excusers of impotence fled, abdicating their wardship. + For the hate they had taught through the State brought the State no + defender, + And it passed from the roll of the Nations in headlong surrender. + + + + +JUSTICE + +OCTOBER 1918 + + + _Across a world where all men grieve + And grieving strive the more, + The great days range like tides and leave + Our dead on every shore. + Heavy the load we undergo, + And our own hands prepare, + If we have parley with the foe, + The load our sons must bear._ + + Before we loose the word + That bids new worlds to birth, + Needs must we loosen first the sword + Of Justice upon earth; + Or else all else is vain + Since life on earth began, + And the spent world sinks back again + Hopeless of God and Man. + + A people and their King + Through ancient sin grown strong, + Because they feared no reckoning + Would set no bound to wrong; + But now their hour is past, + And we who bore it find + Evil Incarnate held at last + To answer to mankind. + + For agony and spoil + Of nations beat to dust, + For poisoned air and tortured soil + And cold, commanded lust, + And every secret woe + The shuddering waters saw-- + Willed and fulfilled by high and low-- + Let them relearn the Law. + + That when the dooms are read, + Not high nor low shall say:-- + 'My haughty or my humble head + Has saved me in this day.' + That, till the end of time, + Their remnant shall recall + Their fathers' old, confederate crime + Availed them not at all. + + That neither schools nor priests, + Nor Kings may build again + A people with the heart of beasts + Made wise concerning men. + Whereby our dead shall sleep + In honour, unbetrayed, + And we in faith and honour keep + That peace for which they paid. + + +Printed by T and A CONSTABLE, Printers to His Majesty at the Edinburgh +University Press + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YEARS BETWEEN*** + + +******* This file should be named 21777.txt or 21777.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/1/7/7/21777 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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