 | The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere |  |
326
XXVI. TRUE AND FALSE LOVE OF FREEDOM. 1860.
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, screened by her shield august,
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
At duteous days; all these, the brood of night,
Diverse, by one black note detected stand,
Their scorn of every barrier raised by Right
To awe self-will. Howe'er by virtue bann'd,
By reason spurned, that act the moment needs
Licensed they deem; holy whate'er succeeds.
| The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere | |