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 | The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere |  |
400
XVI. POLAND AND RUSSIA.—1.
When, fixed in righteous wrath, a Nation's eyeTorments some crowned Tormentor with just hate,
Nor threat nor flattery may that gaze abate:
Unshriven the unatoning years go by:
For, as that starry Archer in the sky
Unbends not his bright bow, though early and late
The Siren sings, and folly weds with fate,
Even so that sure though silent Destiny
Which keeps fire-vigil in God's judgment-heaven
Upon the countenance of the Doomed looks forth
Consentient with a Nation's gaze on earth:
To those twinned Powers a single gaze is given:
The earthly Fate reveals the Fate on high—
A Brazen Serpent raised, that says not, ‘live,’ but ‘die!’
| The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere | |