 | Women must weep |  |
WONDER.
They were buying in market and selling,
They were bought for ever and sold,
Lay the dirt on the poor man's dwelling,
And the castle had carpet of gold;
They were marrying and giving in marriage,
And the force came to falsehood's aid,
While the harlot, in unpaid carriage,
Look'd down on the sister who paid;
And they cried in their joy and their sorrow,
From the glamour and glittering lie—
“Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow
We die.”
They were bought for ever and sold,
Lay the dirt on the poor man's dwelling,
And the castle had carpet of gold;
They were marrying and giving in marriage,
And the force came to falsehood's aid,
While the harlot, in unpaid carriage,
Look'd down on the sister who paid;
And they cried in their joy and their sorrow,
From the glamour and glittering lie—
“Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow
We die.”
183
They admired not man, nor yet woman,
And respected no beautiful shrine;
They despised the Divine in the human,
And the human in the Divine;
And they saw not the sacred appointing
Beneath lot and apparelling poor,
And the Queen with the higher anointing,
Who went out of the cottage door;
Who was clothed not with lightning and thunder,
Like the monarchs who dazzle and feign,
But in right of a rapturous wonder
Did reign.
And respected no beautiful shrine;
They despised the Divine in the human,
And the human in the Divine;
And they saw not the sacred appointing
Beneath lot and apparelling poor,
And the Queen with the higher anointing,
Who went out of the cottage door;
Who was clothed not with lightning and thunder,
Like the monarchs who dazzle and feign,
But in right of a rapturous wonder
Did reign.
They could gaze at the tinsel and trifles,
At the gilt on the horrible grave,
The last pattern of murderous rifles,
And the antics of jester and slave;
They could worship the fool and the coward,
And build temples to vermin and ass,
Or excuse all the crimes of a Howard,
And throw stones from a fortress of glass;
But they would not give merciful sentence
To the woman whom reverence stays,
Who is robed in a royal repentance
And prays.
At the gilt on the horrible grave,
The last pattern of murderous rifles,
And the antics of jester and slave;
They could worship the fool and the coward,
And build temples to vermin and ass,
Or excuse all the crimes of a Howard,
And throw stones from a fortress of glass;
But they would not give merciful sentence
To the woman whom reverence stays,
Who is robed in a royal repentance
And prays.
They had seated the beast at the table,
Which their God had so daintily spread,
And their God had dismiss'd to the stable,
With the steeds who partook of his bread;
And no room for the prodigal sinner,
Who returned to her father in awe,
Could they find in the frolic or dinner,
In the codes of religion or law;
For they knew not the trustful was shriven,
Not the mocker in white kid gloves;
That the throne is for wonder forgiven
That loves.
Which their God had so daintily spread,
And their God had dismiss'd to the stable,
With the steeds who partook of his bread;
And no room for the prodigal sinner,
Who returned to her father in awe,
Could they find in the frolic or dinner,
In the codes of religion or law;
For they knew not the trustful was shriven,
Not the mocker in white kid gloves;
That the throne is for wonder forgiven
That loves.
| Women must weep | |