 | The collected works of Ambrose Bierce |  |
[Hail, holy Lead!—of human feuds the great]
Hail, holy Lead!—of human feuds the greatAnd universal arbiter; endowed
With penetration to pierce any cloud
Fogging the field of controversial hate,
And with a swift, inevitable, straight,
Searching precision find the unavowed
But vital point. Thy judgment, when allowed
By the chirurgeon, settles the debate.
O useful metal!—were it not for thee
We'd grapple one another's ears alway:
But when we hear thee buzzing like a bee
We, like old Muhlenberg, “care not to stay.”
And when the quick have run away like pullets
Jack Satan smelts the dead to make new bullets.
| The collected works of Ambrose Bierce | |