Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Heinemann Volume 3).djvu/224

Though I must own I shudder at
The dire confusion I behold.
But while there's life there's hope, and you
Are by this gift baptized anew
To obligations yet more great
Of serving, by your Church, the State.
Men need a rule in all they do;
Or reckless forces, breaking loose,
Like colts undaunted by the curb,
Spurn gates and fences, and disturb
The thousand landmarks of old Use.
Each order'd mode of life proclaims
One Law, that goes by many names.
The Artist calls it School, and I'm
Mistaken if I have not heard
Our soldiers call it keeping time.
Ah yes, friend, that's the very word!
That's what the State desires at last!
Double-quick time gets on too fast,
And goose-step lags too far behind;
All men to step alike, and beat
The selfsame music with their feet,
That is the method to its mind!

Brand.

Kennel the eagle;—and let loose
On empyrean flights the goose!

The Dean.

We, thank the Lord, are not as these;—
But if we must use allegory,
We'll turn to Scripture, if you please.
For every case it has a story,
From Genesis to Revelation
It swarms with stimulating Fable;
I will but hint, in illustration,