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BIRTHDAY ODE.
And knights whose lives were flights of eagles' wings,
And lives like snakes' lives of engendering kings;
And all the ravin of all the swords that reap
Lives cast as sheaves on heap350
From all the billowing harvest-fields of fight;
And sounds of love-songs lovelier than the light.
The grim dim thrones of the east ep. 9
Set for death's riotous feast
Round the bright board where darkling centuries wait,
And servile slaughter, mute,
Feeds power with fresh red fruit,
Glitter and groan with mortal food of fate;
And throne and cup and lamp's bright breath
Bear witness to their lord of only night and death.360
Dead freedom by live empire lies defiled, str. 10
And murder at his feet
