And out of Darkness, Light._

"POLICEMAN X," which appeared first in _Bees in Amber_, was written in
1898. The Epilogue was written in 1914. "Policeman X" is the Kaiser.
"Policeman"--because if he had so chosen he could have assisted in
policing Europe and preserving the peace of the world. "X"--because he
was then the unknown quantity. Now we know him only too well.

THE MEETING-PLACE
(A Warning)

I saw my fellows
In Poverty Street,--
Bitter and black with life's defeat,
Ill-fed, ill-housed, of ills complete.
And I said to myself,--
"_Surely death were sweet
To the people who live in Poverty Street._"

I saw my fellows
In Market Place,--
Avid and anxious, and hard of face,
Sweating their souls in the Godless race.
And I said to myself,--
"_How shall these find grace
Who tread Him to death in the Market Place?_"

I saw my fellows
In Vanity Fair,--
Revelling, rollicking, debonair,
Life all a Gaudy-Show, never a care.
And I said to myself,--
"_Is there place for these
In my Lord's well-appointed policies?_"

I saw my fellows
In Old Church Row,--
Hot in discussion of things High and Low,
Cold to the seething volcano below.
And I said to myself,--
"_The leaven is dead.
The salt has no savour. The Spirit is fled._"

I saw my fellows
As men and men,--
The Men of Pain, and the Men of Gain,
And the Men who lived in Gallanty-Lane.
And I said to myself,--
"What if those should dare
To claim from these others their rightful share?"

I saw them all
Where the Cross-Roads meet;--
Vanity Fair, and Poverty Street,
And the Mart, and the Church,--when the Red Drums beat,
And summoned them all to The Great Court-Leet.
And I cried unto God,--
"Now grant us Thy grace!"

* * * * *

For that was a terrible Meeting-Place.

VICTORY DAY
_An Anticipation_

As sure as God's in His Heaven,
As sure as He stands for Right,
As sure as the hun this wrong hath done,
So surely we win this fight!

Then!--
Then, the visioned eye shall see
The great and noble company,
That gathers there from land and sea,
From over-land and over-sea,
From under-land and under-sea,
To celebrate right royally
The Day of Victory.

Not alone on that great day,
Will the war-worn victors