THE LAST INCA.
13
"Tell your comrades the insults they offer my crown—
Their crimes in my realm they shall amply atone!
Know that I am most mighty--the strongest my throne;
Your King may be powerful—a brother I'll be—
But vassal to none on the land or the sea!
And my Faith—by the heavens! I never will alter!—
As soon shall the dawn in the glowing east falter!
Your own God, you tell me, was cruelly slain
By the men he created; hung, dead, in his pain;
But mine lives forever! my father, the Sun,
The deathless, the glorious, unchangeable One;—
Behold where he shines in celestial array!
Then back to your darkness! I bide with the day!"
Their crimes in my realm they shall amply atone!
Know that I am most mighty--the strongest my throne;
Your King may be powerful—a brother I'll be—
But vassal to none on the land or the sea!
And my Faith—by the heavens! I never will alter!—
As soon shall the dawn in the glowing east falter!
Your own God, you tell me, was cruelly slain
By the men he created; hung, dead, in his pain;
But mine lives forever! my father, the Sun,
The deathless, the glorious, unchangeable One;—
Behold where he shines in celestial array!
Then back to your darkness! I bide with the day!"
"Base hound!" said the friar, as stooping he caught
The book to his breast, and with quickened steps sought
Pizarro, who waited his coming within,—
"If you wish," he burst out, "the vast wager to win,
Talk no more with this dog full of malice and pride!
His clans fill the fields. Once our force is defied,
The book to his breast, and with quickened steps sought
Pizarro, who waited his coming within,—
"If you wish," he burst out, "the vast wager to win,
Talk no more with this dog full of malice and pride!
His clans fill the fields. Once our force is defied,
