 | 'Twixt Kiss and Lip or Under the Sword. By the author of "Women Must Weep," [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] Third edition |  |
THE DEVIL AND THE PITCHFORK, 1882.
From his gridiron rose the old Devil in Hell,
With a splutter of fire and of brimstone;
And although he came up with a horrible smell,
Yet his voice was as sweet as a hymn's tone.
With a splutter of fire and of brimstone;
And although he came up with a horrible smell,
Yet his voice was as sweet as a hymn's tone.
For his medical man, whosoever he was,
Had just ordered a visit to Ireland,
Prescribing a Fenian frolic, because
That country was like his own Fireland.
Had just ordered a visit to Ireland,
Prescribing a Fenian frolic, because
That country was like his own Fireland.
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But, if I mistake not, the name of the Leech
Who had sent him to Erin to gad on,
Has been written at length, though in Scriptural speech,
By the ominous name of Abaddon.
Who had sent him to Erin to gad on,
Has been written at length, though in Scriptural speech,
By the ominous name of Abaddon.
And nothing averse, in the garb of a priest,
That he might not occasion a panic,
Prepared for a murder or torture at least,
Thus arose his great Highness Satanic.
That he might not occasion a panic,
Prepared for a murder or torture at least,
Thus arose his great Highness Satanic.
And he said to the fool who was feeding his pigs
“Why go fattening a damned institution?
You must Boycott your masters, if Tories or Whigs,
And I will ensure absolution.”
“Why go fattening a damned institution?
You must Boycott your masters, if Tories or Whigs,
And I will ensure absolution.”
And he said to the tenant just filling his purse,
“The land is your own, by your labour!
Don't pay, or the rent will only be made worse,
Your improvements enriching a neighbour,
“The land is your own, by your labour!
Don't pay, or the rent will only be made worse,
Your improvements enriching a neighbour,
“Even now you are just on the victory's edge,
In the war with the grinding of grand lords;
Stand bravely behind a convenient hedge,
And pistol the spoilers and landlords.”
In the war with the grinding of grand lords;
Stand bravely behind a convenient hedge,
And pistol the spoilers and landlords.”
“The night is your friend and it will not betray,
If you mutilate beasts or go further;
Do not mind if a woman should stand in the way,
For there never was logic like murther.
If you mutilate beasts or go further;
Do not mind if a woman should stand in the way,
For there never was logic like murther.
“Be gallant and merciless, quit you like men,
With your mightiest Macs and your great O's;
And the pigs will have plenty of feasting, and then
There will be such a crop of potatoes.”
With your mightiest Macs and your great O's;
And the pigs will have plenty of feasting, and then
There will be such a crop of potatoes.”
So the tenants went forth in the moonlight and murk
To their deeds of destruction and evil;
And the blacker and bloodier waxed their bad work,
The more pleased and devout was the devil.
To their deeds of destruction and evil;
And the blacker and bloodier waxed their bad work,
The more pleased and devout was the devil.
For they shot down the women and children, and preached
The good news of the Home Rule damnation;
And they thought that the era of Peace had been reached,
When they only had made desolation.
The good news of the Home Rule damnation;
And they thought that the era of Peace had been reached,
When they only had made desolation.
And they hamstrung the cattle of those who had paid,
And inflicted a hell-begot sentence
On the innocent sleepers, and butchered, and prayed,
Were absolved, and then butchered repentance.
And inflicted a hell-begot sentence
On the innocent sleepers, and butchered, and prayed,
Were absolved, and then butchered repentance.
And the Devil went with them, applauding their deeds,
Though in public the holiest pastor;
And he bade them sow widely the dynamite seeds,
For the reaping of death and disaster.
Though in public the holiest pastor;
And he bade them sow widely the dynamite seeds,
For the reaping of death and disaster.
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And for dolorous months they went doing their worst,
Between crime and confessional hassock;
Till the earth became hell, for so sore was it curst,
And the Fiend grew quite fond of his cassock.
Between crime and confessional hassock;
Till the earth became hell, for so sore was it curst,
And the Fiend grew quite fond of his cassock.
But then all in the midst of that terror and sway,
As they murdered or questioned on which fork
Of those bloody dilemmas to spit their poor prey,
Lo, they met with a MAN and his PITCHFORK!
As they murdered or questioned on which fork
Of those bloody dilemmas to spit their poor prey,
Lo, they met with a MAN and his PITCHFORK!
He was agéd, but weaponed not only with prongs,
But with justice on outrage agrarian;
And they fled, as their Master of old from the tongs,
From that sturdy old Octogenarian.
But with justice on outrage agrarian;
And they fled, as their Master of old from the tongs,
From that sturdy old Octogenarian.
And the Devil himself went back howling to Hell,
Though Miss Parnell had kept a nice drop o'tea;
But for years there remained such a horrible smell,
That all bolted—at least, who had property.
Though Miss Parnell had kept a nice drop o'tea;
But for years there remained such a horrible smell,
That all bolted—at least, who had property.
And as long as the exploits of heroes are told,
With their lights and their shadows of evil,
There is one, I am sure, that will never grow old,
Of the hero who pitchforked the Devil.
With their lights and their shadows of evil,
There is one, I am sure, that will never grow old,
Of the hero who pitchforked the Devil.
| 'Twixt Kiss and Lip or Under the Sword. By the author of "Women Must Weep," [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] Third edition | |