Rosemary and Pansies/A Reply

by Bertram Dobell

A REPLY

Thou tell'st me from the wrath to come to flee,
"'Tis safest to believe" thy coward's plea:
What! dost thou think my spirit's poor as thine?
Such doctrines are for bond-slaves, not the free.

What's true is true, what's false is false, and I
Refuse for gain to palter with a lie:
The truth in scorn of consequence I seek,
And dare to ask of God or Devil Why?

Such Truth as will to reach it may attain,
Such certitude as studious toil may gain,
This do I seek, and having found hold fast,
Though it bring bitter sorrow in its train.

The creeds are many, there is but one Truth:
Art sure thou hast discovered it in sooth?
Thou that hast taken thy beliefs on trust,
And putt'st thy faith in Merry-Andrew Booth!

Though Truth's clear face may not be manifest,
'Tis easy to bring Falsehood to the test;
Easy its vain pretensions to expose
When in the scales of reason 'tis assessed.

The Truth of Truths perchance man ne'er may know,
Yet he the search for it may not forego:
'Tis good to climb the mountain's craggy side,
Though we reach not its pinnacle of snow.

Falsehood's a harlot with seductive smile,
Practised in every loose and wanton wile;
To every temper she doth suit herself
By flattery, cajolery, or guile:

But Truth all art or artifice disdains,
No painting uses, no false beauty feigns;
Cares not though men regardless pass her by,
And all-sufficient to herself remains.

Though she may seem to wear a frowning face,
Shrink not, but dare approach her and embrace,
And then her veil falls off and you behold
Imperial beauty and celestial grace.

1899