Page:The poems of Emma Lazarus volume 1.djvu/96

Unmindful of the sacred hour announced,
Disdainful or unconscious, held his course.
" Would that I also, like yon stupid wight,
Could kneel and hail the Virgin and believe ! "
He murmured bitterly beneath his breath.
" Were I a pagan, riding to contend
For the Olympic wreath, O with what zeal,
What fire of inspiration, would I sing
The praises of the gods ! How may my lyre
Glorify these whose very life I doubt ?
The world is governed by one cruel God,
Who brings a sword, not peace. A pallid Christ,
Unnatural, perfect, and a virgin cold,
They give us for a heaven of living gods,
Beautiful, loving, whose mere names were song ;
A creed of suffering and despair, walled in
On every side by brazen boundaries,
That limit the soul s vision and her hope
To a red hell or an unpeopled heaven.
Yea, I am lost already,—even now
Am doomed to flaming torture for my thoughts.
O gods ! gods ! where shall my soul find peace?"
He raised his wan face to the faded skies,
Now shadowing into twilight; no response
Came from their sunless heights ; no miracle,
As in the ancient days of answering gods.
With a long, shuddering sigh he glanced to earth,
Finding himself among the Horsel cliffs.