"Ere the drowsy street hath stirred "Every masked and midnight word, "And the nations break their fast upon these things. "So I make a jest of Wonder, and a mock of Time and Space, "The roofless Seas an hostel, and the Earth a market-place, 66 Where the anxious traders know "Each is surety for his foe, "And none may thrive without his fellows' grace. "Now this is all my subtlety and this is all my wit, "God give thee good enlightenment, My Master in the Pit. "But behold all Earth is laid "In the Peace which I have made, "And behold I wait on thee to trouble it!" AN IMPERIAL RESCRIPT 1890 Now this is the tale of the Council the German Kaiser decreed, To ease the strong of their burden, to help the weak in their need, He sent a word to the peoples, who struggle, and pant, and sweat, That the straw might be counted fairly and the tally of bricks be set. The Lords of Their Hands assembled; from the East and the West they drew Baltimore, Lille, and Essen, Brummagem, Clyde, and Crewe. And some were black from the furnace, and some were brown from the soil, And some were blue from the dye-vat; but all were wearied of toil. And the young King said: "I have found it, the road to the rest ye seek: "The strong shall wait for the weary, the hale shall halt for the weak; "With the even tramp of an army where no man breaks from the line, “Ye shall march to peace and plenty in the bond of brotherhood sign!" The paper lay on the table, the strong heads bowed thereby, And a wail went up from the peoples: "Ay, sign 'Ay, sign— give rest, for we die!" A hand was stretched to the goose-quill, a fist was cramped to scrawl, When the laugh of a blue-eyed maiden ran clear through the council-hall. And each one heard Her laughing as each one saw Her plain Saidie, Mimi, or Olga, Gretchen, or Mary Jane. And the Spirit of Man That is in Him to the light of the vision woke; And the men drew back from the paper, as a Yankee delegate spoke : "There's a girl in Jersey City who works on the telephone; "We're going to hitch our horses and dig for a house of our own, "With gas and water connections, and steam heat through to 66 the top; And, W. Hohenzollern, I guess I shall work till I drop." And an English delegate thundered: "The weak an' the lame be blowed! “I've a berth in the Sou'-West workshops, a home in the Wandsworth Road; "And till the 'sociation has footed my buryin' bill, "I work for the kids an' the missus. Pull up! I'll be damned if I will! " And over the German benches the bearded whisper ran: "Lager, der girls und der dollars, dey makes or dey breaks a man. "If Schmitt haf collared der dollars, he collars der girl deremit; "But if Schmitt bust in der pizness, we collars der girl from Schmitt." They passed one resolution:-"Your sub-committee believe "You can lighten the curse of Adam when you've lifted the curse of Eve. "But till we are built like angels, with hammer and chisel and pen, "We will work for ourself and a woman, for ever and ever, amen." Now this is the tale of the Council the German Kaiser held The day that they razored the Grindstone, the day that the Cat was belled, The day of the Figs from Thistles, the day of the Twisted Sands, The day that the laugh of a maiden made light of the Lords of Their Hands. ET DONA FERENTES 1896 IN extended observation of the ways and works of man, From the Four-mile Radius roughly to the plains of Hin dustan : I have drunk with mixed assemblies, seen the racial ruction rise, And the men of half creation damning half creation's eyes. I have watched them in their tantrums, all that pentecostal crew, French, Italian, Arab, Spaniard, Dutch and Greek, and Russ and Jew, Celt and savage, buff and ochre, cream and yellow, mauve and white. But it never really mattered till the English grew polite; Till the men with polished toppers, till the men in long frock coats, Till the men that do not duel, till the men who war with votes, Till the breed that take their pleasures as Saint Lawrence took his grid, Began to "beg your pardon " and the knowing croupier hid. Then the bandsmen with their fiddles, and the girls that bring the beer, Felt the psychologic moment, left the lit casino clear; But the uninstructed alien, from the Teuton to the Gaul, Was entrapped, once more, my country, by that suave, deceptive drawl. As it was in ancient Suez or 'neath wilder, milder skies, 66 'Keep your temper. Never answer (that was why they spat and swore). Don't hit first, but move together (there's no hurry) to the door. Back to back, and facing outward while the linguist tells 'em how 'Nous sommes allong à notre batteau, nous ne voulong pas un row,'" So the hard, pent rage ate inward, till some idiot went too 66 far... Let 'em have it!" and they had it, and the same was merry war. Fist, umbrella, cane, decanter, lamp and beer-mug, chair and boot Till behind the fleeing legions rose the long, hoarse yell for loot. Then the oil-cloth with its numbers, like a banner fluttered free; Then the grand piano cantered, on three castors, down the quay; White, and breathing through their nostrils, silent, systematic, swift They removed, effaced, abolished all that man could heave or lift. Oh, my country, bless the training that from cot to castle runs The pitfall of the stranger but the bulwark of thy sons Measured speech and ordered action, sluggish soul and unperturbed, Till we wake our Island-Devil - nowise cool for being curbed! When the heir of all the ages" has the honour to remain," When he will not hear an insult, though men make it ne'er so plain, When his lips are schooled to meekness, when his back is bowed to blows Well the keen aas-vogels know it well the waiting jackal knows. Build on the flanks of Etna where the sullen smoke-puffs floatOr bathe in tropic waters where the lean fin dogs the boat Cock the gun that is not loaded, cook the frozen dynamite But oh, beware my country, when my country grows polite! |