 | Lyrics: By Martin F. Tupper |  |
103
Cruelty:
AS BETWEEN MAN AND HIS BROTHER.
Man's inhumanity to Man!
Oh hideous tale to tell,—
What cheek unblanch'd can calmly scan
Those characters of hell?
What pen, what poet, dares to paint
The terrors of that strife,
Wherein so many a martyr'd saint
Has moan'd away his life?
Oh hideous tale to tell,—
What cheek unblanch'd can calmly scan
Those characters of hell?
What pen, what poet, dares to paint
The terrors of that strife,
Wherein so many a martyr'd saint
Has moan'd away his life?
104
O Roman friars,—Spanish priests,
Ye wretched cruel men,
More bloody than infuriate beasts
Half-famish'd in their den,—
How dreadful are the human woes
Your secret vaults have seen,—
God's patient vengeance only knows
What horrors there have been!
Ye wretched cruel men,
More bloody than infuriate beasts
Half-famish'd in their den,—
How dreadful are the human woes
Your secret vaults have seen,—
God's patient vengeance only knows
What horrors there have been!
And, Slavery! human nature's shame,
The curse of human-kind,
How hateful is thy very name
To ear, and heart, and mind!
The sugar-mill, the cotton-field,
The lash, the goad, the chain,—
Alas! how huge a crop they yield
Of wickedness and pain!
The curse of human-kind,
How hateful is thy very name
To ear, and heart, and mind!
The sugar-mill, the cotton-field,
The lash, the goad, the chain,—
Alas! how huge a crop they yield
Of wickedness and pain!
105
And, here at home, let childhood's shriek
On coalpit echoes borne,—
And starving woman's hollow cheek
In city streets forlorn,—
And mean oppression's heavy hand
On patient merit's head,—
Ask everywhere throughout the land,
—Whither has Mercy fled?
On coalpit echoes borne,—
And starving woman's hollow cheek
In city streets forlorn,—
And mean oppression's heavy hand
On patient merit's head,—
Ask everywhere throughout the land,
—Whither has Mercy fled?
Yet is there comfort: God above
Long-suffering doth not sleep;
He treasures up with tenderest love
The tears of those who weep;
Holy, and Merciful, and Strong,
Be sure, His glorious Might
For all oppression, pain, and wrong
Will righteously requite!
Long-suffering doth not sleep;
He treasures up with tenderest love
The tears of those who weep;
Holy, and Merciful, and Strong,
Be sure, His glorious Might
For all oppression, pain, and wrong
Will righteously requite!
106
And there is comfort: victim soul,
Go straight before that Judge;
With pitying care to hear the whole
His patience will not grudge;
So, out of harm, and hate, and pain,
If thou but kiss the rod,
Thou shalt attain the golden gain
Of Brotherhood with God!
Go straight before that Judge;
With pitying care to hear the whole
His patience will not grudge;
So, out of harm, and hate, and pain,
If thou but kiss the rod,
Thou shalt attain the golden gain
Of Brotherhood with God!
| Lyrics: By Martin F. Tupper | |