��Until the dawn of Judgment Day, Obscure and still and white."
"Nay," said the scarlet visitor,
" Though I sink through the sea A ruined thing that was a ship
I sink not as did ye. For ye met with your destiny
By storm or rock or fight, So through the lagging centuries
Ye wear your robes of white.
" But never crashing iceberg
Nor honest shot of foe, Nor hidden reef has sent me
The way that I must go. My wound that stains the waters,
My blood that is like flame, Bear witness to a loathly deed,
A deed without a name.
" I went not forth to battle,
I carried friendly men, The children played about my decks,
The women sang — and then — And then — the sun blushed scarlet
Anrl Heaven hid its face. The world that God created
Became a shameful place I
�� �
