Page:The poems of Edmund Clarence Stedman, 1908.djvu/443

CUBA Back the stately Duchess turned,

While the priests and friars chanted,

And the swinging incense burned:

Thus by feudal right was earned

Greatness for a race undaunted.

CUBA

it naught? Is it naught

That the South-wind brings her wail to our shore,

That the spoilers compass our desolate sister?

Is it naught? Must we say to her, "Strive no more."

With the lips wherewith we loved her and kissed her?

With the mocking lips wherewith we said,

"Thou art the dearest and fairest to us

Of all the daughters the sea hath bred,

Of all green-girdled isles that woo us!"

Is it naught?

Must ye wait? Must ye wait,

Till they ravage her gardens of orange and palm,

Till her heart is dust, till her strength is water?

Must ye see them trample her, and be calm,

As priests when a virgin is led to slaughter?

Shall they smite the marvel of all lands,—

The nation's longing, the Earth's completeness,—

On her red mouth dropping myrrh, her hands

Filled with fruitage and spice and sweetness?

Must ye wait?

In the day, in the night,

In the burning day, in the dolorous night,

Her sun-browned cheeks are stained with weeping.

Her watch-fires beacon the misty height:—

Why are her friends and lovers sleeping? 413