And all his men-at-arms and servitors
Bowed them like sheaves before our smiting swords …
Now staunchly onward, ever in God's counsel,
And from the earth blot we out all amongst us
Who in base pride run counter to the people,
And God thereof shall have his glory, and
A godly benison this land of ours.
Cherish we glowing trust upon the Lord,
And keep the powder in our muskets dry!
“The Apostles” (1911).
6. SHAKESPEARE.
Now gaze ye hither!
Lo, a righteous judge
Amorous women, raging termagants,
Mendicants, fools, placid philosophers,
Carousing artisans, hired soldiery,
Wizards and elfin sprites from fairy-land.
The wretched soul he utterly stripped bare,
Leaving it clear as crystal. Utterly
The inmost parts of conscience he revealed
That he might show whereby in very sooth
Its deeds were prompted.
Nor can bias hold
From the great king unto the mendicant
Who drags his misery along the street,
All are but man. He judges man and passes
Sentence as unrelentingly as Fate:
He has blood spilt, and it is naught but hazard
