The Circus Lion
The spoil of cunning human hands
The tawny lion lies,
Dreaming, perchance, of desert sands
And far-off Lybian skies.
He sees the tombs of kings rise dark
The moonlight on the plain...
While a pale, narrow-shouldered clerk
Makes comments on his mane!
He rises, snarling at the hands
That point their feeble fun,
And longs upon those midnight sands
To see the red blood run.
He beats the rough boards with his tail,
His great jaws gnash their rage,
But what can royal strength avail
Against a bar-set cage?
His muscles strain, his eyes go dark,
He crouches for a spring...
Secure, the flaccid, weakling clerk
Laughs at the Captive King!
This work is in the public domain in Australia because it was created in Australia and the term of copyright has expired. According to Australian Copyright Council - Duration of Copyright, the following works are public domain:
- published non-government works whose author died before January 1, 1955,
- anonymous or pseudonymous works and photographs published before January 1, 1955, and
- government works published more than 50 years ago (before January 1, 1974).
This work is also in the public domain in the United States because it was first published outside the United States (and not published in the U.S. within 30 days), and it was first published before 1989 without complying with U.S. copyright formalities (renewal and/or copyright notice) and it was in the public domain in Australia on the URAA date (January 1, 1996). This is the combined effect of Australia having joined the Berne Convention in 1928, and of 17 USC 104A with its critical date of January 1, 1996.
Because the Australian copyright term in 1996 was 50 years, the critical date for copyright in the United States under the URAA is January 1, 1946.
This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1935, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 88 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse