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32
SLAVE SUICIDE.
Should one led up to death, or fearing worse,
Those tortures that make dying a release,
Anticipate the final boon of peace
By taking on himself the murderer's curse?
Those tortures that make dying a release,
Anticipate the final boon of peace
By taking on himself the murderer's curse?
If with unwavering purpose arm'd, his hand
Could let the doomed captive from his breast,
And with one purple pang reconquer rest,
Were it not Roman, Brutus-worthy, grand?
Could let the doomed captive from his breast,
And with one purple pang reconquer rest,
Were it not Roman, Brutus-worthy, grand?
No! by my faith in God, I would not spare
My flesh one blow prophetically due,
Nor snatch a respite, nor for mercy sue,
Lest I should wrong th' Omnipotence of prayer;
My flesh one blow prophetically due,
Nor snatch a respite, nor for mercy sue,
Lest I should wrong th' Omnipotence of prayer;
Lest I should rob my soul of high repose
Earned by such racking labor of the frame,
Or spare a miscreant heart the bootless shame
With which men see a victim's eyelids close.
Earned by such racking labor of the frame,
Or spare a miscreant heart the bootless shame
With which men see a victim's eyelids close.
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Pursue, to depths of agony unknown—
Strip, smite him, gyved and bound, that cannot flee,
At one sure limit God doth set him free,
And aimless Fury mars a form of stone.
Strip, smite him, gyved and bound, that cannot flee,
At one sure limit God doth set him free,
And aimless Fury mars a form of stone.
Had this thy creed been sanctioned, we had lost
Those men and women patient unto death,
Twined in our very rosary of Faith,
God's jewels, God's, who registers their cost.
Those men and women patient unto death,
Twined in our very rosary of Faith,
God's jewels, God's, who registers their cost.
Triumphant, these abode the test of fire,
Were scourged, were branded, broken on the wheel,
Pierced with sharp fangs of beasts, or sharper steel,
And fainted not in hope, nor in desire.
Were scourged, were branded, broken on the wheel,
Pierced with sharp fangs of beasts, or sharper steel,
And fainted not in hope, nor in desire.
Nay, thou hadst rifled thus, with hand profane,
A crowning glory from the Crucified;
Where were the healing from the wounded side,
If his own hand the costly life had ta'en?
A crowning glory from the Crucified;
Where were the healing from the wounded side,
If his own hand the costly life had ta'en?
He bore his martyrdom as God did mete,
Bequeathed it, drop by drop, and part by part,
Ours, with the blissful brokenness of heart
In which we kneel to kiss the sinless feet.
Bequeathed it, drop by drop, and part by part,
Ours, with the blissful brokenness of heart
In which we kneel to kiss the sinless feet.
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Smile then upon the scourge, devoted friend!
There comes a glory, wreathed with every stripe,
His meed who waits till his reward is ripe,
And crowns God's perfect purpose in his end.
There comes a glory, wreathed with every stripe,
His meed who waits till his reward is ripe,
And crowns God's perfect purpose in his end.
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