Recaptured Rhymes Being a Batch of Political and Other Fugitives Arrested and Brought to Book. By H. D. Traill |
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AN ENFANT TERRIBLE. |
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 | Recaptured Rhymes |  |
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AN ENFANT TERRIBLE.
I.
The baby was born on a lowering morn
In Seventeen Eighty-and-Nine,
And poets and sages enacted the Mages
Who hailed the event divine.
In Seventeen Eighty-and-Nine,
And poets and sages enacted the Mages
Who hailed the event divine.
Their “star in the west” had, it must be confessed,
A slightly sulphureous gleam;
But it faithfully led to the tumble-down shed,
At the sign of “The Old Régime.”
A slightly sulphureous gleam;
But it faithfully led to the tumble-down shed,
At the sign of “The Old Régime.”
The adorers brought of the gold of Thought,
And the myrrh and frankincense of Song;
And they worshipped the birth that redeemed the earth
From the Old Dispensation of wrong.
And the myrrh and frankincense of Song;
And they worshipped the birth that redeemed the earth
From the Old Dispensation of wrong.
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With each other they vied for the pleasure and pride
Of preparing the Prince's crown,
And every one smiled on the infant mild
Till he kicked—and the house fell down.
Of preparing the Prince's crown,
And every one smiled on the infant mild
Till he kicked—and the house fell down.
II.
Then the poets and sages who acted as Mages
Went home to consider the scene,
And with serious looks sat them down to their books
To resolve what this portent should mean.
Went home to consider the scene,
And with serious looks sat them down to their books
To resolve what this portent should mean.
And when they had found upon reasoning sound
What the strange new thing must be,
They compared their notes, and collected the votes,
And it seemed that they couldn't agree.
What the strange new thing must be,
They compared their notes, and collected the votes,
And it seemed that they couldn't agree.
Some courageously said a mistake had been made,
That the good they had worshipped was evil,
Their Saviour supposed, by his conduct disclosed
For an obvious limb of the Devil.
That the good they had worshipped was evil,
Their Saviour supposed, by his conduct disclosed
For an obvious limb of the Devil.
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But others demurred to this view, and preferred
A conclusion less humbling to pride,
And admitting the child to be wayward and wild,
His Satanic extraction denied.
A conclusion less humbling to pride,
And admitting the child to be wayward and wild,
His Satanic extraction denied.
'Twas (they said) premature to affect to be sure
How a babe later on will behave,
And for all that the boy had begun to destroy,
It might well be his mission to save.
How a babe later on will behave,
And for all that the boy had begun to destroy,
It might well be his mission to save.
III.
But to common surprise, while disputed the wise,
Was the infant inspired or mad,
To boyhood 'twas reared, and it shortly appeared
That the world was too small for the lad.
Was the infant inspired or mad,
To boyhood 'twas reared, and it shortly appeared
That the world was too small for the lad.
He had got him a blade at Ajaccio made,
And had picked up a song at Marseilles,
And had rigged up a flag from a three-coloured rag
He had fixed to its staff—with nails.
And had picked up a song at Marseilles,
And had rigged up a flag from a three-coloured rag
He had fixed to its staff—with nails.
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A bonnet of red he had cocked on his head,
Steel-bright were his eyes, and wild;
Unkempt was his hair, and his legs were bare—
A truly unusual child!
Steel-bright were his eyes, and wild;
Unkempt was his hair, and his legs were bare—
A truly unusual child!
IV.
So sallied he forth, East, South, and North,
To the barren lands and the fair;
To the South in its glows, to the North in its snows,
To the East in its desert-glare.
To the barren lands and the fair;
To the South in its glows, to the North in its snows,
To the East in its desert-glare.
To the Elbe, to the Rhine, through the plumed Apennine,
Over Italy's plains he hastes;
Then Eastward far—till his conquering star
Grew dim on the Syrian wastes:
Over Italy's plains he hastes;
Then Eastward far—till his conquering star
Grew dim on the Syrian wastes:
To the shores of the Nile; to the Knights' old isle;
Then again by the pierced Pyrenees,
South, south, ever south, to the Mid-sea's mouth,
At the Pillars of Hercules.
Then again by the pierced Pyrenees,
South, south, ever south, to the Mid-sea's mouth,
At the Pillars of Hercules.
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East, North, and South, as a flood to its mouth
Bears trees of the forest uptorn,
On the towering crest of the wave in his breast
Was the terrible urchin borne.
Bears trees of the forest uptorn,
On the towering crest of the wave in his breast
Was the terrible urchin borne.
With the spilth of his hands he slaked the sands
Athirst of Egyptian suns;
He scarred the scalp of the frozen Alp
With the wheels of his clambering guns.
Athirst of Egyptian suns;
He scarred the scalp of the frozen Alp
With the wheels of his clambering guns.
Sank hearts of kings when rustled the wings
Of his eagles about their ears;
At his cannon-knell old empires fell,
And thrones of a thousand years.
Of his eagles about their ears;
At his cannon-knell old empires fell,
And thrones of a thousand years.
All wisdom of time, all strength of prime,
At the foot of this stripling crude,
With his head in a blaze of its single craze,
Lay stupefied, spent, subdued!
At the foot of this stripling crude,
With his head in a blaze of its single craze,
Lay stupefied, spent, subdued!
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V.
And the doctors? Well, if the truth be to tell,
Even some in opinion stout,
Who had clung to the creed that the child was indeed
A Messiah, began to doubt.
Even some in opinion stout,
Who had clung to the creed that the child was indeed
A Messiah, began to doubt.
But the sturdiest ones still stuck to their guns,
And maintained his legation divine;
“Not peace, but a sword,” was the scriptural word,
From which he had taken his line.
And maintained his legation divine;
“Not peace, but a sword,” was the scriptural word,
From which he had taken his line.
Then the kings he o'erthrew had had only their due,
And might even a punishment worse
Have deservedly got for a certain vile plot,
To strangle the baby at nurse.
And might even a punishment worse
Have deservedly got for a certain vile plot,
To strangle the baby at nurse.
VI.
Thus the doctors cried; but the world outside,
That life, not books, understands—
The Great Commonplace—had already the case
Withdrawn from the doctors' hands.
That life, not books, understands—
The Great Commonplace—had already the case
Withdrawn from the doctors' hands.
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To the men of the field and the mart was revealed,
Through a mist of conceptions vague,
One truth, clear as light, that, cost what it might,
They must promptly abate this plague.
Through a mist of conceptions vague,
One truth, clear as light, that, cost what it might,
They must promptly abate this plague.
So the nations clubbed, that the boy might be drubbed;
While he, with unwavering mind,
Stood, a new Athanase—would the whole world face
For a creed—of a different kind.
While he, with unwavering mind,
Stood, a new Athanase—would the whole world face
For a creed—of a different kind.
He fought hard and hot, and with varying lot,
And with hopes now high, now low,
Till a certain forenoon, in the month of June,
When he closed with his strongest foe.
And with hopes now high, now low,
Till a certain forenoon, in the month of June,
When he closed with his strongest foe.
They closed, and the shock made Europe to rock,
And the pulse of her heart to stay,
While the wrestlers gasped, in their death-grip clasped,
For all one breathless day.
And the pulse of her heart to stay,
While the wrestlers gasped, in their death-grip clasped,
For all one breathless day.
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But his glass was run; sank, sank with the sun
The line of its lessening sand,
And as night came down he was prostrate thrown,
And the great sword torn from his hand.
The line of its lessening sand,
And as night came down he was prostrate thrown,
And the great sword torn from his hand.
This, safe under lock, on a sea-girt rock
They hid; and it six years lay
Condemned to rust in the island dust,
Till it rusted its heart away.
They hid; and it six years lay
Condemned to rust in the island dust,
Till it rusted its heart away.
While as for the boy who had wrought such annoy
To the world in his youthful fling,
Of his ways to repent, straight home he was sent
In charge of a Christian King.
To the world in his youthful fling,
Of his ways to repent, straight home he was sent
In charge of a Christian King.
They tore down his rag of a tricolor flag,
And they gave him a banner instead,
Of a beautiful white, with lilies bedight,
And gold for the blue and the red.
And they gave him a banner instead,
Of a beautiful white, with lilies bedight,
And gold for the blue and the red.
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They put him to school of the good priests' rule,
To atone by penance and praise
And prostration of soul for his Carmagnole,
And mass for his Marseillaise.
To atone by penance and praise
And prostration of soul for his Carmagnole,
And mass for his Marseillaise.
VII.
In this excellent way (so the doctors say)
Was the scapegrace led to reform;
And a grave middle age, respected and sage,
Has succeeded his youth of storm.
Was the scapegrace led to reform;
And a grave middle age, respected and sage,
Has succeeded his youth of storm.
And (excepting, perhaps, one unlucky relapse
From his later regenerate state,
Into juvenile ways on the great Three Days,
And another in 'forty-eight,
From his later regenerate state,
Into juvenile ways on the great Three Days,
And another in 'forty-eight,
And a third—worst far—at the end of the War)
He has yearly become more staid;
More and more like that other, his English brother,
Who's fat, and has taken to trade.
He has yearly become more staid;
More and more like that other, his English brother,
Who's fat, and has taken to trade.
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And though, here and there, some devil-may-care
Of a Russ or a Bursch by the Spree
May claim him as kin, they will shortly begin
Oats sown, to reform, just as he.
Of a Russ or a Bursch by the Spree
May claim him as kin, they will shortly begin
Oats sown, to reform, just as he.
VIII.
Thus the doctors declare with their confident air;
But many there be who avow
That, for all they have seen of thy altered mien,
O Democracy, dread art thou!
But many there be who avow
That, for all they have seen of thy altered mien,
O Democracy, dread art thou!
If their fancy essay thy form to portray,
In the vision that faces them then,
No shape they behold of the stature and mould
Of a man among mortal men.
In the vision that faces them then,
No shape they behold of the stature and mould
Of a man among mortal men.
But rather in thought is thy emblem wrought
Mysterious, formless, vast;
A giant of stone on a giant throne,
Like the gods of the long-buried past.
Mysterious, formless, vast;
A giant of stone on a giant throne,
Like the gods of the long-buried past.
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Yet about thy feet light chatterers meet,
Politician and pamphleteer,
And they learnedly prose on the form of thy toes
Or the toe which may chance to be near.
Politician and pamphleteer,
And they learnedly prose on the form of thy toes
Or the toe which may chance to be near.
Not caring to raise their complacent gaze
So high that a glance may fall
On the hands laid at ease o'er the monstrous knees—
Those hands which could cover us all!
So high that a glance may fall
On the hands laid at ease o'er the monstrous knees—
Those hands which could cover us all!
Not caring to trace on the stone-hewn face,
With its distance-questioning eyes,
That inscrutable smile of the Head by the Nile
That is dumb till the sun shall rise.
With its distance-questioning eyes,
That inscrutable smile of the Head by the Nile
That is dumb till the sun shall rise.
When its first rays smite, what chord of affright
Will it sound for the world's new song?
What ground-tone of fear?—Who lives, he shall hear:
May he not have lived too long!
Will it sound for the world's new song?
What ground-tone of fear?—Who lives, he shall hear:
May he not have lived too long!
| Recaptured Rhymes | |