Page:The Garden of Years.djvu/70

 Rex Captivus

I am stained with blood of your sons, and armored with

prayers of your daughters,

To me your defenders point as sign of their aim most true, On the prows of your mail-clad ships I sail to guard your

conquered waters: O sons of the West, will ye sully your crest

With this hideous thing ye do?

Nay ! By the oath ye swore, by the pledge of your ancient

duty, By the blood ye spilled for my honor, I bid you to bend

the knee !

Yield me my place again, in its purity, pride, and beauty ! Men of my nation, is this my station?

I summon you, set me free ! Let there be one rift in the cloud of man's world-wide

dominion, One thing of all breathing things that he bids no hand

molest ! Let Liberty's sky be hallowed by the beat of the eagle's

pinion, By her sons released, from the earliest east

To the shores of the farthest west !

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