Page:Rudyard Kipling's verse - Inclusive Edition 1885-1918.djvu/196

They wrought a deeper treason—
    (Led seas that served my needs!)
They sold Diego Valdez
    To bondage of great deeds.

The tempest flung me seaward,
    And pinned and bade me hold
The course I might not alter—
    And men esteemed me bold!
The calms embayed my quarry,
    The fog-wreath sealed his eyes;
The dawn-wind brought my topsails—
    And men esteemed me wise!

Yet, ’spite my tyrant triumphs
    Bewildered, dispossessed—
My dream held I before me—
    My vision of my rest;
But, crowned by Fleet and People,
    And bound by King and Pope—
Stands here Diego Valdez
    To rob me of my hope.

No prayer of mine shall move him,
    No word of his set free
The Lord of Sixty Pennants
    And the Steward of the Sea.
His will can loose ten thousand
    To seek their loves again—
But not Diego Valdez,
    High Admiral of Spain.

There walks no wind ’neath Heaven
    Nor wave that shall restore
The old careening riot
    And the clamorous, crowded shore—