 | The Poems of Richard Watson Gilder |  |
THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE
Let fall the ruin propt by Europe's hands!
Its tottering walls are but a nest of crime;
Slayers and ravishers in licensed bands
Swarm darkly forth to shame the face of Time.
Its tottering walls are but a nest of crime;
Slayers and ravishers in licensed bands
Swarm darkly forth to shame the face of Time.
False, imbecile, and cruel; kept in place
Not by its natural force, but by the fears
Of foes, scared each of each; even by the grace
Of rivals—not blood-guiltless all these years!
Not by its natural force, but by the fears
Of foes, scared each of each; even by the grace
Of rivals—not blood-guiltless all these years!
Ay, let the ruin fall, and from its stones
Rebuild a civic temple pure and fair;
Where freedom is not alien; where the groans
Of dying and ravished burden not the air!
Rebuild a civic temple pure and fair;
Where freedom is not alien; where the groans
Of dying and ravished burden not the air!
1896.
| The Poems of Richard Watson Gilder | |