 | The March of Man and Other Poems |  |
[He trod the lonely path of truth and light]
TO THE MEMORY OF JOSEPH PRIESTLEY
He trod the lonely path of truth and light;He saw, beyond the shadow of his land,
A gallant people hold with single hand
The world at bay, for liberty and right,
And bade her speed. For this, while very night
Blushed to behold, the brainless rabble-band,
To please our bigot sires, with impious brand
Devoured his home and drave him from their sight.
Discloser of the secret of the wind,
We, who repenting of that dastard flame
Have learnt with late remorseful bays to bind
Thy marble brow, our glory and our shame,
Are twice partakers of our fathers' blame,
If to strange lights we too are proud and blind.
Birmingham, 1891.
| The March of Man and Other Poems | |