The Alhambra and Other Poems By F. B. Money-Coutts [i.e. F. B. T. Coutts-Nevill] |
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| England and America |
| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
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 | The Alhambra and Other Poems |  |
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England and America
I
PRESIDENT CLEVELAND'S MESSAGE,
DECEMBER, 1895
Yes! it was well, and passing well, that we—
To do their pleasure—for so small a thing,
Refused to set wild war upon the wing,
Or to defile that unensanguined sea,
That flows between our Countries of the Free,
With freight of fratricide! We let them ring
Alarum; kept us crimeless; and shall bring
White record to the days that are to be!
To do their pleasure—for so small a thing,
Refused to set wild war upon the wing,
Or to defile that unensanguined sea,
That flows between our Countries of the Free,
With freight of fratricide! We let them ring
Alarum; kept us crimeless; and shall bring
White record to the days that are to be!
The time will come, when they will look with shame
On that time-serving message of their Chief;
His use ignoble of their noble name
For paltry purpose, must be charged with grief
For the harvest of their Age, when every sheaf
Is garnered of their folly and their fame.
On that time-serving message of their Chief;
His use ignoble of their noble name
For paltry purpose, must be charged with grief
For the harvest of their Age, when every sheaf
Is garnered of their folly and their fame.
13
II
THE ARBITRATION TREATY,
JANUARY, 1897
“How beautiful the feet of them that bring
Good tidings o'er the mountains, news of peace!”
So cried the Hebrew prophet, long release
From long captivity previsioning.
And Cyrus came, with healing on his wing
For Israel; but not by Persia, Greece,
Nor Rome, God made the world from war to cease;
No, nor by Christ, nor any Christian King!
Good tidings o'er the mountains, news of peace!”
So cried the Hebrew prophet, long release
From long captivity previsioning.
And Cyrus came, with healing on his wing
For Israel; but not by Persia, Greece,
Nor Rome, God made the world from war to cease;
No, nor by Christ, nor any Christian King!
But England, watching by her moated main,
Yet tasting in convergent winds the taint
Of slaughter and the tears of those that weep
The tyranny of battle, hears again,
With spiritual ear, the far and faint
Footfall divine, that treads the “untrampled deep.”
Yet tasting in convergent winds the taint
Of slaughter and the tears of those that weep
The tyranny of battle, hears again,
With spiritual ear, the far and faint
Footfall divine, that treads the “untrampled deep.”
14
III
THE AMERICAN SENATE'S AMENDMENT
More right divine, perchance, ye arrogate
Than Kings anointed; yet ye little prove
Your title to investiture of Love,
Which is Divinity; but consecrate
To enmity ye seem! For when, as late,
Peace left awhile her heavenly Ark, that hove
A little nearer Earth, the gentle dove
Could find no harbour in your flood of hate.
Than Kings anointed; yet ye little prove
Your title to investiture of Love,
Which is Divinity; but consecrate
To enmity ye seem! For when, as late,
Peace left awhile her heavenly Ark, that hove
A little nearer Earth, the gentle dove
Could find no harbour in your flood of hate.
Hither and thither dark confusions smite,
In maddened chivalry of pride and pelf;
The nations of the world, like factions fight,
As reasonless as Ghibelline and Guelph:
Yet Earth has never seen a viler sight
Than this vile war ye wage on Peace herself!
In maddened chivalry of pride and pelf;
The nations of the world, like factions fight,
As reasonless as Ghibelline and Guelph:
Yet Earth has never seen a viler sight
Than this vile war ye wage on Peace herself!
March, 1897.
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