 | Voices and visions |  |
75
TRIUMPH
He sat alone, with brooding glance;
He gnawed his lips, with angered frown;
He thought of how austere mischance
Had crushed him tyrannously down.
He gnawed his lips, with angered frown;
He thought of how austere mischance
Had crushed him tyrannously down.
Faint footfalls echoed at his side:
He turned; a shadowy shape was near;
He scanned it with rebellious pride:
‘Dark form,’ he breathed, ‘what dost thou here?’
He turned; a shadowy shape was near;
He scanned it with rebellious pride:
‘Dark form,’ he breathed, ‘what dost thou here?’
The strange guest laughed in harsh disdain:
‘Forbear,’ she scoffed, ‘from tame deceit.
Behold, I am the incarnate pain
Long dealt thee by thine own defeat!’
‘Forbear,’ she scoffed, ‘from tame deceit.
Behold, I am the incarnate pain
Long dealt thee by thine own defeat!’
He rose and faced her, stern of brow. ...
‘I know thee, Failure, fierce and brave!
So be it; thou shalt not quit me now,
But bide my prisoner and my slave!’
‘I know thee, Failure, fierce and brave!
So be it; thou shalt not quit me now,
But bide my prisoner and my slave!’
His rough hands caught her as to kill;
With scorn he marked her moan and plead;
He bowed her to his dauntless will;
He bent her like a wind-bent reed.
With scorn he marked her moan and plead;
He bowed her to his dauntless will;
He bent her like a wind-bent reed.
76
For days his mastery taxed her sore;
No menial task she dared refuse;
She cooked his meat; she swept his floor;
She trimmed his lamp; she latched his shoes.
No menial task she dared refuse;
She cooked his meat; she swept his floor;
She trimmed his lamp; she latched his shoes.
Yet always, while she served him so,
Her mien of gloom with gradual stir
Kept altering, till at last the glow
Of glorious change invested her.
Her mien of gloom with gradual stir
Kept altering, till at last the glow
Of glorious change invested her.
Then low, in tenderer mood, said he,
With softening gaze, with fond caress:
‘Come, reign my wedded wife, and be
Henceforth not Failure, but Success!’
With softening gaze, with fond caress:
‘Come, reign my wedded wife, and be
Henceforth not Failure, but Success!’
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