 | The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere |  |
XII. TRUE AND FALSE LOVE OF FREEDOM.
They that for Freedom feel not love but lust,Irreverent, knowing not her spiritual claim,
And they the votaries blind of windy fame,
And they who cry, ‘I will because I must,’
They, too, that launch, false to a freeman's trust,
A bandit's shaft revenge or greed their aim,
And they that make her sacred cause their game
From restlessness or spleen or sheer disgust
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Diverse by one black note detected stand,
Their scorn of every barrier raised by right
To awe self-will. Howe'er by virtue banned
By wisdom spurned, that act the moment needs
Licensed they deem; holy whate'er succeeds.
| The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere | |