Page:The Man Who Died Twice (1924).djvu/92

 Not the last note; and there was in him always,

Unqualified by guile and unsubdued

By failure and remorse, or by redemption,

The grim nostalgic passion of the great

For glory all but theirs. And more than these,

There was the nameless and authentic seal

Of power and of ordained accomplishment—

Which may not be infallibly forthcoming,

Yet in this instance came. So I believe,

And shall, till admonition more disastrous

Than any that has yet imperilled it

Invalidates conviction. Though at first,

And many a time thereafter, my persuasion

May well have paused and halted, I believe

Today that all he told me for the truth

Was true—as I believed him long ago

To be the giant of his acknowledgment.