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 |  |
79
III
To be as fabled gods; to bless and curse,
Reward and punish, fitly make or mar;
Direct the course of ev'ry wandering star,
Command the storm to gather or disperse,
And, unperturbed, to rule the universe;—
Or else, to be as happy creatures are
That roam at large, unpenned by latch or bar,
And grieve for nothing evil or perverse;—
Reward and punish, fitly make or mar;
Direct the course of ev'ry wandering star,
Command the storm to gather or disperse,
And, unperturbed, to rule the universe;—
Or else, to be as happy creatures are
That roam at large, unpenned by latch or bar,
And grieve for nothing evil or perverse;—
This had been well, but lo, betwixt the two,
Half god, half brute, man takes the middle path
With faltering footsteps and appealing hands;—
Ignorant, vain, yet strong to dare and do—
Oh Lord, be merciful, nor shed Thy wrath,
On one who so obscurely “understands”!
Half god, half brute, man takes the middle path
With faltering footsteps and appealing hands;—
Ignorant, vain, yet strong to dare and do—
Oh Lord, be merciful, nor shed Thy wrath,
On one who so obscurely “understands”!
| Betwixt Two Seas | |