Betwixt Two Seas Poems and Ballads (Written at Constantinople and Therapia). By Violet Fane [i.e. M. M. Lamb] |
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 | Betwixt Two Seas |  |
II
We that have made us lords, alike, of brute,
And fish, and fowl, and ev'ry creeping thing:—
That make their necks to bow, and set a ring
Within their nostrils, and by hot pursuit
And torture of them, prove our absolute
And proud dominion; doth such empire bring
Release from one dark hour of suffering,
Or sweeten for us Wisdom's bitter fruit?
And fish, and fowl, and ev'ry creeping thing:—
That make their necks to bow, and set a ring
Within their nostrils, and by hot pursuit
And torture of them, prove our absolute
And proud dominion; doth such empire bring
Release from one dark hour of suffering,
Or sweeten for us Wisdom's bitter fruit?
Lo, we are not as beasts; we “understand”! . . .
Yet we, too, bow the neck beneath the rod
Wielded in silence by the chast'ning hand
Of One we, understanding not, call “God”;
Whilst blinder than the beasts in this our night,
We cannot even see the thongs that smite!
Yet we, too, bow the neck beneath the rod
Wielded in silence by the chast'ning hand
Of One we, understanding not, call “God”;
Whilst blinder than the beasts in this our night,
We cannot even see the thongs that smite!
| Betwixt Two Seas | |