4
THE CROWING OF THE RED COCK.
To root his seed from earth again,
His record is one cry of pain.
When the long roll of Christian guilt
Against his sires and kin is known.
The flood of tears, the life-hlood spilt,
The agony of ages shown,
What oceans can the stain remove.
From Christian law and Christian love?
Nay, close the book ; not now, not here,
The hideous tale of sin narrate,
Be^hoing in the martyr's ear,
Even he might nurse revengeful hate,
Even he might turn in wrath sublime,
With blood for blood and crime for crime.
Coward ? Not he, who faces death.
Who singly against worlds has fought.
For what? A name he may not breathe.
For liberty of prayer and thought.
The angry sword he will not whet.
His nobler task is—to forget.
