Page:Poems, Meynell, 1921.djvu/121

The Unexpected Peril Draws near, and little done? yet lo,

Dread has forborne, and haste lies by.

I was beleaguered; now the foe

Has raised the siege, I know not why.

I see them troop away; I ask

Were they in sooth mine enemies—

Terror, the doubt, the lash, the task?

What heart has my new housemate, Ease?

How am I left, at last, alive,

To make a stranger of a tear?

What did I do one day to drive

From me the vigilant angel, Fear?

The diligent angel, Labour? Ay,

The inexorable angel, Pain?

Menace me, lest indeed I die,

Sloth! Turn; crush, teach me fear again! 113