Songs Of The Road Part 5

Five of them was twisted in a tangle on the floor, And Iky Moss, the bettin' boss, had sprinted for the door.

Five repentant fightin' men, sitting in a row, Listenin' to words of grace from Mister Bendigo,

Listenin' to his reverence all as good as gold, Pretty little baa-lambs, gathered to the fold.

[69] So that's the way that Bendy ran his mission in the slum, And preached the Holy Gospel to the fightin' men of Brum,

"The Lord," said he, "has given me His message from on high, And if you interrupt Him, I will know the reason why."

But to think of all your schooling clean wasted, thrown away, Darned if I can make out what you're learnin' all the day,

Grubbin' up old fairy-tales, fillin' up with cram, And didn't know of Bendigo, the pride of Nottingham.

[71]

II. PHILOSOPHIC VERSES

COMPENSATION [73]

The grime is on the window pane, Pale the London sunbeams fall, And show the smudge of mildew stain, Which lies on the distempered wall.

I am a cripple, as you see, And here I lie, a broken thing, But G.o.d has given flight to me, That mocks the swiftest eagle wing.

For if I will to see or hear, Quick as the thought my spirit flies, And lo! the picture flashes clear, Through all the mist of centuries.

[74] I can recall the Tigris' strand, Where once the Turk and Tartar met, When the great Lord of Samarcand Struck down the Sultan Bajazet.

Under a ten-league swirl of dust The roaring battle swings and sways, Now reeling down, now upward thrust, The crescent sparkles through the haze.

I see the Janissaries fly, I see the chain-mailed leader fall, I hear the Tekbar clear and high, The true believer's battle-call.

And tossing o'er the press I mark The horse-tail banner over all, [75] Shaped like the smudge of mildew dark That lies on the distempered wall.

And thus the meanest thing I see Will set a scene within my brain, And every sound that comes to me, Will bring strange echoes back again.

Hark now! In rhythmic monotone, You hear the murmur of the mart, The low, deep, unremitting moan, That comes from weary London's heart.

But I can change it to the hum Of mult.i.tudinous acclaim, When triple-walled Byzantium, Re-echoes the Imperial name.

[76] I hear the beat of armed feet, The legions clanking on their way, The long shout rims from street to street, With rolling drum and trumpet bray.

So I hear it rising, falling, Till it dies away once more, And I hear the costers calling Mid the weary London roar.

Who shall pity then the lameness, Which still holds me from the ground?

Who commiserate the sameness Of the scene that girds me round?

Though I lie a broken wreck, Though I seem to want for all, Still the world is at my beck And the ages at my call.

THE BANNER OF PROGRESS [77]

There's a banner in our van, And we follow as we can, For at times we scarce can see it, And at times it flutters high.

But however it be flown, Still we know it as our own, And we follow, ever follow, Where we see the banner fly.

In the struggle and the strife, In the weariness of life, The banner-man may stumble, He may falter in the fight.

[78] But if one should fail or slip, There are other hands to grip, And it's forward, ever forward, From the darkness to the light.

HOPE [79]

Faith may break on reason, Faith may prove a treason To that highest gift That is granted by Thy grace; But Hope! Ah, let us cherish Some spark that may not perish, Some tiny spark to cheer us, As we wander through the waste!

A little lamp beside us, A little lamp to guide us, Where the path is rocky, Where the road is steep.

[80] That when the light falls dimmer, Still some G.o.d-sent glimmer May hold us steadfast ever, To the track that we should keep.

Hope for the trending of it, Hope for the ending of it, Hope for all around us, That it ripens in the sun.

Hope for what is waning, Hope for what is gaining, Hope for what is waiting When the long day is done.

Hope that He, the nameless, May still be best and blameless, Nor ever end His highest With the earthworm and the slime.

[81] Hope that o'er the border, There lies a land of order, With higher law to reconcile The lower laws of Time.

Hope that every vexed life, Finds within that next life, Something that may recompense, Something that may cheer.

And that perchance the lowest one Is truly but the slowest one, Quickened by the sorrow Which is waiting for him here.

RELIGIO MEDICI [82]

1 G.o.d's own best will bide the test, And G.o.d's own worst will fall; But, best or worst or last or first, He ordereth it all.

2 For all is good, if understood, (Ah, could we understand!) And right and ill are tools of skill Held in His either hand.

[83] 3 The harlot and the anchorite, The martyr and the rake, Deftly He fashions each aright, Its vital part to take.

4 Wisdom He makes to form the fruit Where the high blossoms be; And l.u.s.t to kill the weaker shoot, And Drink to trim the tree.

5 And Holiness that so the bole Be solid at the core; And Plague and Fever, that the whole Be changing evermore.