The Ballad of St. Barbara and other verses/Poland
For works with similar titles, see Poland.
POLAND
Augers that watched archaic birdsSuch plumèd prodigies might read,The eagles that were double-faced,The eagle that was black indeed;And when the battle-birds went downAnd in their track the vultures come,We know what pardon and what peaceWill keep our little masters dumb.
The men that sell what others make,As vultures eat what others slay,Will prove in matching plume with plumeThat naught is black and all is grey;Grey as those dingy doves that once,By money-changers palmed and priced,Amid the crash of tables flappedAnd huddled from the wrath of Christ.
But raised for ever for a signSince God made anger glorious,Where eagles black and vultures greyFlocked back about the heroic house, Where war is holier than peace,Where hate is holier than love,Shone terrible as the Holy GhostAn eagle whiter than a dove.