 | At Sunset |  |
21
A WORD FOR THE MOMENT
THE BOXER REBELLION
I
Art-angel Guido hangs upon my wall
A moving picture of the Tempter's fall.
Michael, bright champion of the heavenly host,
Treads under foot the leader of the lost.
A moving picture of the Tempter's fall.
Michael, bright champion of the heavenly host,
Treads under foot the leader of the lost.
Buskined with light, with faultless weapon armed,
He stands above the prostrate foe, unharmed.
The groveling wretch no counter-blow essays,
Pinned down to earth, in impotent amaze.
He stands above the prostrate foe, unharmed.
The groveling wretch no counter-blow essays,
Pinned down to earth, in impotent amaze.
This vision, oft encountered, seems to say:
The brute on earth shall never more hold sway;
While, glorious as a seraph from the skies,
Freedom makes good her deathless victories.
The brute on earth shall never more hold sway;
While, glorious as a seraph from the skies,
Freedom makes good her deathless victories.
II
The legendary fight grows pale
Before me, as I hear the wail
Of men on noble errand sent
And held with murderous intent,
By frantic legions that essay
To stifle Europe in Cathay.
Before me, as I hear the wail
Of men on noble errand sent
And held with murderous intent,
By frantic legions that essay
To stifle Europe in Cathay.
22
My fancy shows each pallid face,
True lovers, locked in last embrace;
Parents who to their bosoms strain
The babes they guard, but guard in vain.
True lovers, locked in last embrace;
Parents who to their bosoms strain
The babes they guard, but guard in vain.
And as I kneel in prayer, I cry:
Father! send rescue from on high!
The ways of human help are barred;
Be thou, O Lord! their watch and ward!
Father! send rescue from on high!
The ways of human help are barred;
Be thou, O Lord! their watch and ward!
Alas! alas! their doom is sealed!
No source of succor is revealed.
But still, beyond the bounds of sense,
Prevaileth God's omnipotence.
No source of succor is revealed.
But still, beyond the bounds of sense,
Prevaileth God's omnipotence.
His seraph messenger may come,
E'en to that fiend-beleaguered home,
And unto those who perish give
A crown denied to those that live.
E'en to that fiend-beleaguered home,
And unto those who perish give
A crown denied to those that live.
Ruler of all! to each brave heart
The joy of martyrdom impart!
Upon thy scroll of deathless fame
Write them with those who overcame;
The joy of martyrdom impart!
Upon thy scroll of deathless fame
Write them with those who overcame;
Who, folded in the blessed light
Of Christian faith and Christian right,
Unto the bitter end abode,
Sealed in the armory of God.
Of Christian faith and Christian right,
Unto the bitter end abode,
Sealed in the armory of God.
1900.
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