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Mandragora/The Traitor

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For works with similar titles, see Traitor.

Published in Mandragora (1917)

567739The TraitorJohn Cowper Powys

THE TRAITOR

JUDAS am I, or Peter,
  Or am I only one
Set by malicious destiny
    Between the moon and sun?

Silver upon the land!
    Silver upon the sea!
A world of silver in my hand —
    And my Love looking at me.

It is not only the Lord,
    Who in the high priest's hall,
Looks on the man who can betray,
Till bitterly weeping, he turns away,
Too common grows that word.

Put out the altar-light!
    Let no wine redden the floor.
Cover that lovely face from sight!
Let me go forth into the night,
    And see that look no more.

Silver upon the land!
    Silver upon the sea!
A world of silver in my hand —
    And my Love looking at me!

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.


The longest-living author of this work died in 1963, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 60 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

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