20
SONGS, LEGENDS, AND BALLADS.
BONE AND SINEW AND BRAIN.
YE white-maned waves of the Western Sea.
That ride and roll to the strand,
Ye strong-winged birds, never forced a-lee
By the gales that sweep toward land,
Ye are symbols of death, and of hope that saves,
As ye swoop in your strength and grace.
As ye roll to the land like the billowed graves
Of a past and puerile race.
Cry, "Presto, change!" and the lout is lord,
With his vulgar blood turned blue;
Go dub your knight with a slap of a sword,
As the kings in Europe do;
Go grade the lines of your social mode
As you grade the palace wall,—
The people forever to bear the load,
And the gilded vanes o'er all.
