Page:Florence Earle Coates Poems 1898 99.jpg

 And what," I mused, "will now be fed

To cater to their mood

Who, as their looks bespeak, have said,—

'Evil, be thou my good'?

Order will surely be reversed,

Judgment will disappear,

The tricks of knaves will be rehearsed

To catch the plaudits here!"

Yet as I watched the varied throng,

My theories took flight,

For, lo, they still condemned the wrong,

They still approved the right!

The "villain" by his better art

Surprised from them no praise;

They frankly took the hero's part,

Awarding him the bays;

For they, unlike the wise of earth,

Slight tribute paid to skill,—

Anhungered for a higher worth,

Lovers of virtue still!