Page:Poems Greenwell.djvu/223

We labour in the fire,
 Thick smoke is round about us, through the din
Of words that darken counsel, clamours dire
 Ring from thought's beaten anvil, where within
Two Giants toil, that even from their birth
With travail-pangs have torn their mother Earth,
And wearied out her children with their keen
Upbraidings of the other, till between
Thou camest, saying, "Wherefore do ye wrong
Each other?—ye are Brethren." Then these twain
Will own their kindred, and in Thee retain
Their claims in peace, because Thy land is wide
As it is goodly! here they pasture free,
This lion and this leopard, side by side,
A little child doth lead them with a song;
Now, Ephraim's envy ceaseth, and no more
Doth Judah anger Ephraim chiding sore,
For one did ask a Brother, one a King,
So dost Thou gather them in one, and bring—
Thou, King for evermore, for ever Priest,
Thou, Brother of our own from bonds released—
   A Law of Liberty,
   A Service making free,
A Commonweal where each has all in Thee.

      And not alone these wide,
Deep-planted yearnings, seeking with a cry
Their meat from God, in Thee are satisfied
But all our instincts waking suddenly