Page:The Five Nations.djvu/131

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
THE OLD ISSUE
111

He shall peep and mutter; and the night shall bring
Watchers 'neath our window, lest we mock the King—


Hate and all division; hosts of hurrying spies;
Money poured in secret, carrion breeding flies.


Strangers of his council, hirelings of his pay,
These shall deal our Justice: sell—deny—delay.


We shall drink dishonour, we shall eat abuse
For the Land we look to—for the Tongue we use.


We shall take our station, dirt beneath his feet,
While his hired captains jeer us in the street.


Cruel in the shadow, crafty in the sun,
Far beyond his borders shall his teachings run.


Sloven, sullen, savage, secret, uncontrolled—
Laying on a new land evil of the old;


Long-forgotten bondage, dwarfing heart and brain—
All our fathers died to loose he shall bind again.