A Curse For A Nation
I heard an angel speak last night,
And he said Write!
Write a Nations curse for me,
And send it over the Western Sea.
I faltered, taking up the word:
Not so, my lord!
If curses must be, choose another
To send thy curse against my brother.
For I am bound by gratitude,
By love and blood,
To brothers of mine across the sea,
Who stretch out kindly hands to me.
Therefore, the voice said, shalt thou write
My curse to-night.
From the summits of love a curse is driven,
As lightning is from the tops of heaven.
Not so, I answered. Evermore
My heart is sore
For my own lands sins: for little feet
Of children bleeding along the street:
For parked-up honors that gainsay
The right of way:
For almsgiving through a door that is
Not open enough for two friends to kiss:
For love of freedom which abates
Beyond the Straits:
For patriot virtue starved to vi
Self-praise, self-i, and suspi:
For an oligarchic parliament,
And bribes well-meant.
What curse to another land assign,
When heavy-souled for the sins of mine?
Therefore, the voice said, shalt thou write
My curse to-night.
Because thou hast strength to see and hate
A foul thing dohin thy gate.
Not so, I answered once again.
To curse, en.
For I, a woman, have only known
How the heart melts and the tears run down.
Therefore, the voice said, shalt thou write
My curse to-night.
Some women weep and curse, I say
(And no one marvels), night and day.
And thou shalt take their part to-night,
Weep and write.
A curse from the depths of womanhood
Is very salt, and bitter, and good.
So thus I wrote, and mourned indeed,
What all may read.
And thus, as was enjoined on me,
I send it over the Western Sea.
The Curse
Because ye have broken your own
With the strain
Of brave men climbing a Natio,
Yet thence bear down with brand and thong
On souls of others, -- for this wrong
This is the curse. Write.
Because yourselves are standing straight
Iate
Of Freedoms foremost acolyte,
Yet keep calm footing all the time
On writhing bond-slaves, -- for this crime
This is the curse. Write.
Because ye prosper in Gods name,
With a claim
To honor in the old worlds sight,
Yet do the fiends work perfectly
In strangling martyrs, -- for this lie
This is the curse. Write.
Ye shall watch while kings spire
Round the peoples smouldering fire,
And, warm for your part,
Shall never dare -- O shame!
To utter the thought into flame
Which burns at your heart.
This is the curse. Write.
Ye shall watch while nations strive
With the bloodhounds, die or survive,
Drop faint from their jaws,
Or throttle them backward to death;
And only under your breath
Shall favor the cause.
This is the curse. Write.
Ye shall watch while strong men draw
The s of feudal law
Tle the weak;
And, ting the sin for a sin,
Your soul shall be sadder within
Than the word ye shall speak.
This is the curse. Write.
When good men are prayi
That Christ may avenge His elect
And deliver the earth,
The pra