Have something more to justify your word
Than that old thread-bare line, "they say,"
Or "I have heard," or that vampire "'tis said"—
Those thieves that steal the truth away.
Than that old thread-bare line, "they say,"
Or "I have heard," or that vampire "'tis said"—
Those thieves that steal the truth away.
For these are subterfuges, scapegoats all,
That scandal-mongers hide behind,
And if you use them to speed on your tale
You are the scandal-monger kind.
That scandal-mongers hide behind,
And if you use them to speed on your tale
You are the scandal-monger kind.
For honest men will set their honest names
To accusations they believe;
'Tis only cowards (who may rend you next!)
Who hide from blame they should receive.
To accusations they believe;
'Tis only cowards (who may rend you next!)
Who hide from blame they should receive.
So if you dare not justify your tale,
Recall the text of centuries gone,
And tell it not in Gath, nor publish it
Within the streets of Askelon!
Recall the text of centuries gone,
And tell it not in Gath, nor publish it
Within the streets of Askelon!
SHIPS AT SEA
FROM far beyond the wavering line
Where the sky meets rock-a-by sea,
Somewhere and from some unknown port
My ships are sailing home to me.
Where the sky meets rock-a-by sea,
Somewhere and from some unknown port
My ships are sailing home to me.
And this I know, for the God of all dreams
Has whispered my heart it was so;
Then what care I if the heavens be fair
Or the wide-winged tempests shall blow?
Has whispered my heart it was so;
Then what care I if the heavens be fair
Or the wide-winged tempests shall blow?
65
