V.
ATE.
[_]
Line 750, Παλαιφατος, to line 781. παν δ' επι τερμα νωμα.
“'Twas said of yore, when Wealth doth rise,
She never childless dies,
But in her fulness doth disclose
A multiplying brood of woes.
But Truth, if I may hold thy hand,
Apart from all with thee I stand;
Some sacrilegious Deed of fear
Hath offspring, which their parent's impress bear,
But houses built with Right have children bright and fair.
2
“The Crime of old, which seem'd long dead,
Lifts up again its head,
Again its destin'd moon it fills,
And giveth birth to mortal ills,
As aye advancing it grows worse
In the black chambers of the Curse,
It bears a nameless progeny,
Hating the light—not yet their form we see,
But doubtless all too like their godless ancestry.
3
“In smoky huts Justice shines bright,
Revering holy Right,
But her averted eyes doth hold
From hands defiled with sacred gold;
And towering walks unto the side
Where deeds of Holiness abide,
Nor honours Power which wealth may raise,
Though falsely it be stamp'd with passing Praise,
But unto the Great End she ordereth all her ways.”
ON THE FOREGOING.
“Ate” that word of early time
Deep Wisdom speaks as from a shrine,
Of long-descending Curse and Crime
Which marks the steps of Wrath divine.
When Judgment like a fiery guest
Enters a house
and there remains;
On age to age its shadows rest,
Unless Repentance cleanse the stains
.
