Mine and Thine (1904)/Dreyfus

by Florence Earle Coates

For works with similar titles, see Dreyfus.

Not to be confused with Dreyfus (Coates, 1899).

DREYFUS

France has no dungeon in her island tomb
So deep that she may hide injustice there;
The cry of innocence, despite her care,—
Despite her roll of drums, her cannon's boom,—
Is heard wherever human hearts have room
For sympathy: a sob upon the air,
Echoed and reëchoed everywhere,
It swells and swells, a prophecy of doom.

Thou latest victim of an ancient hate!
In agony so awfully alone,
The world forgets thee not, nor can forget:
Such martyrdom she feels to be her own,
And sees involved in thine her larger fate;
She questions, and thy foes shall answer yet.

Notes

1. Due in large part to the support of "leading artists and intellectuals," Dreyfus was pardoned and released from prison on 19 September 1899, and officially exonerated on 12 July 1906. (see Alfred Dreyfus)