Page:Roden Noel - A Little Child's Monument - 1881.pdf/145

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128
A LITTLE CHILD'S MONUMENT.

Thou cannibal at some unnatural feast
On thine own offspring! who hast whelped the fiend,
And man, whose offal-feeding frenzy gleaned
The hell-field of foul horrors, left unreaped
By devils; his black coward heart full-steeped
In outrage, lies, and murderous lust for pain,
Whom all the unbounded tortures bigots feign
May purge not from the abominable stain!

O monstrous world, where innocent children jostle
Fiends from the pit! where snakes constrict the throstle,
Singing of Paradise! infuse the fire,
And gloat upon her pangs till she expire,
Her music foundering in confusion dire!

Surely there be twin fountains of the world,
And Love brought forth what Hate to ruin hurled!
Love looses lucid waters, and they sing;
But ever one squats to pollute the spring!
Ah, Lord! who wiliest well! Thy lame hands falter,
While Death and Sin defile Thy Bride before the altar!
Poor Love! and couldst not Thou preserve Thy daughter
From infamy and ravishment and slaughter?
I know not! only know that we are blind…
Thou wilt divide this kingdom of the mind,