ONE THOUSAND FAMOUS THINGS 029
The Gift He Gave to England
His eyes are bright and eager, with the brightness of the Sun,
(England, he gives them you).
His hands are strong for climbing and his feet are swift to run,
(England, he gives them you).
He has knowledge of the meadows, in the dreamy autumn days,
The brown hill and the gold hill, and the green, forgotten ways
(But he leaves them now for you).
There's a certain ancient city where he once was free and young,
(But he leaves it now for you),
Where Oxford tales are spoken, and Oxford ways are sung,
(But he leaves them now for you),
And his heart is often weary for that dear old river shore,
And lie thinks a little sadly of the days that come no more
(But he* gives them up for you).
If his dust is one day lying, in an unfamiliar land
(England, he went for you).
Oil, England, sometimes think of him, of thousands, only one,
In the dawning, or the noonday, or the setting of the Sun
(As once he thought of you). E. Rex Preston
People, He Must Not Die
No, Freedom ! People, No 1 He must not die.
Twould be too simple, too unscorned an end,
After all law destroyed, the hour brought nigh
When holy shame must back to heaven ascend.
By this man's deed, ephemeral Emperor,
Daughters and sons are fatherless and sad ;
The widow weeps, kneels, sobs, her anguish o'er ;
The mother seems a ghost in mourning clad.
The reels which weave his robes of royalty,
Deep dyed, are wound about with blood-stained thread;
Montrnartre's boulevard doth the vat supply,
And steeps his mantle in Imperial red !
When livid Treason, of his crimes the guide,
Raps at his door, he welcomes his ally.
He is the fratricide, the parricide :
People, on this account he must not die.
Keep the man living. Noble punishment 1
Would that, some day, him we may wandering find,
Naked, crouched, shivering, like reed tempest-bent,
Beneath the execration of mankind.
Clasped by the past—crammed with those crimes of Ms,
As with a crown all bristling o'er with nails,
Seeking dark spots—the forest, the abyss ;
Pale, scared, and whom the wolf as Mildred hails.