INCLUSIVE EDITION, 1885-1918 695
Now horn and pelt our peoples melt
In covert to abide; Now, crouched and still, to cave and hill
Our Jungle Barons glide. Now, stark and plain, Man's oxen strain,
That draw the new-yoked plough; Now, stripped and dread, the dawn is red
Above the lit talao. 1
Ho! Get to lair! The sun's aflare
Behind the breathing grass: And creaking through the young bamboo
The warning whispers pass. By day made strange, the woods we range
With blinking eyes we scan; While down the skies the wild duck cries:
" The Day the Day to Man ! "
The dew is dried that drenched our hide,
Or washed about our way; And where we drank, the puddled bank
Is crisping into clay. The traitor Dark gives up each mark
Of stretched or hooded claw; Then hear the Call: "Good rest to all
That keep the Jungle Law !"
BLUE ROSES
DOSES red and roses white
Plucked I for my love's delight. She would none of all my posies Bade me gather her blue roses.
1 Pond or lake.