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 | The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere |  |
Not theirs alone—‘Relapsed!’
The spies rushed forward crying: ‘Renegade false
Who swore'st to bear no arms!’ Upon their leader
She fixed her gaze. ‘Bishop, by you I die:
Last eve you veiled your plot; you now divulge it!
Your charge is false. I swore last eve to bear
Thenceforth no arms in war: I keep that oath.
I swore those Voices were authentic Voices
The Voices of God's Saints. That oath is true;
I disobeyed those Voices once alone,
Sore tempted then. That sin they have forgiven;
Not two months since they promised me deliverance
How that may come I know not. Be it so:
Not seeing, I believe.
“Relapsed.” That word bears meaning—“Death by fire!”
Farewell, my lord!’
The spies rushed forward crying: ‘Renegade false
Who swore'st to bear no arms!’ Upon their leader
She fixed her gaze. ‘Bishop, by you I die:
Last eve you veiled your plot; you now divulge it!
Your charge is false. I swore last eve to bear
Thenceforth no arms in war: I keep that oath.
I swore those Voices were authentic Voices
The Voices of God's Saints. That oath is true;
I disobeyed those Voices once alone,
Sore tempted then. That sin they have forgiven;
Not two months since they promised me deliverance
How that may come I know not. Be it so:
Not seeing, I believe.
“Relapsed.” That word bears meaning—“Death by fire!”
Farewell, my lord!’
| The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere | |