 | Stones from The Quarry |  |
THE UPRIGHT JUDGE.
O thou, who steadiest Right 'twixt voluble tongueAnd tongue, who know'st when Half is more than Whole,
And rather lean'st towards Equity's large goal
Than Law's fox-shifts and windings, which make long
The road, best travelled by the rich and strong,
Whose many gates of poverty take toll
So oft, 'tis like the game of knave and fool,
Where Justice, blind of one eye, winks at wrong
With the other. Thou hold'st poised above the land,
With firm, yet nicest equilibrium,
Those scales, upon whose beam Justice doth stand;
The stay of this world and the world to come.
Thy ermine should to touch of angel's hand
Be spotless, as the Church's lawn to some!
| Stones from The Quarry | |