 | The poems and prose writings of Sumner Lincoln Fairfield |  |
From the Basilicæ
the Prætor passed,
(Thither when foiled in lust, to wreak his wrath
On guiltlessness and guilt alike, he went,)
Leaving his tyrant judgments, in a voice
Of jeering merriment pronounced, to fall
On less offending breakers of the law.
Prostrate upon his path, a mother cried,
“Spare, Oh Proprætor! spare my guiltless child!
He walked not with conspirators—spake not
To leaders of sedition—spare him, judge!
He hath no father—and is all to me!”
(Thither when foiled in lust, to wreak his wrath
On guiltlessness and guilt alike, he went,)
Leaving his tyrant judgments, in a voice
Of jeering merriment pronounced, to fall
On less offending breakers of the law.
Prostrate upon his path, a mother cried,
117
He walked not with conspirators—spake not
To leaders of sedition—spare him, judge!
He hath no father—and is all to me!”
| The poems and prose writings of Sumner Lincoln Fairfield | |