Poems (Cromwell)/Tyranny
TYRANNY
This One I feared is powerless become. Shut lids conceal the leer, the lips are dumb, And the satiric laugh, that used to scare Delight away, is silent. Yes, I dare Consider him disabled, vincible. And yet, as though I were responsible, My will to blame for keeping him in bonds Of unrelenting frost, I fear, I fear Him still. This mould, marmoreal, austere: Assumed in death, needs love to read it, yes, Needs love. For love to the frail flesh responds, And pities even cruelty, when strife Has nurtured it. But sleeping powerless, Of all reproach or pardon unaware—It is as though my love were lying there. The taunt of silence takes my life—my life.