Page:Maryland, my Maryland, and other poems - Randall - 1908.pdf/73

 I was rich in pure affection,
 * Passions chastened and alert—

But my rival had perfection
 * In the opulence of—dirt.

He but wooed thee to deceive thee,
 * Won thee, only to betray;

Shall that shadow ever leave thee?
 * Never while I live—Jamais!

Time is just, and Fate’s surrender
 * Comes like chrism and myrrh to me.

He is quelled in coffined splendor,
 * Hearsed in marble mimicry.

I—though Arctic years have chilled me,
 * Thrust my stature in the day;

But the voice that erst has thrilled me,
 * Thrills no more—Jamais! Jamais!

Though with purpose unbenighted,
 * Though with intellect unshorn,

Still my spirit maimed and blighted,
 * Bleeds beyond its battle morn.

Herbless deserts demon-haunted,
 * Mark the fury of the fray,

But that spirit, still undaunted, Bends to thee—Jamais! Jamais!