CUI BONO?
Did caution keep the gates of Greece,
Ye saints of "safety first!"
Twixt Thessaly and Locris when
Leonidas' thousand men
Died scornful of the proffered peace
Of Xerxes the accurst?
Watch ye have kept, ward ye have kept,
But watch and ward were vain
If love and gratitude have slept
While ye stood guard for gain.
Or ye, who count the niggard cost
In time and coin and gear
Of succoring the under-dog,
How often have ye seen a hog.
Establishing his glutton boast,
Survive a famine year?
Fast ye have kept, feast ye have made;
Vain were the deeds and doles
If it was fear that ye obeyed
To save your coward souls.
Ye banish beauty to the stews
For lack of eyes that see.
And stifle joy with deadly rote
As empty as the texts ye quote.
The while forgiveness ye refuse
Lest wrath dishonored be.
Gray are your days, drab are your ways.
Strong are your fashioned bars,
But, ye who ask if service pays—
Who polishes the stars?
