wim
With you in any water.
You can use his purse with no more talk
Than he uses yours for his spendings,
And laugh and meet in your daily walk
As though there had been no lendings.
Nine hundred and ninety-nine of 'em call
For silver and gold in their dealings;
But the Thousandth Man he's worth 'em all.
Because you can show him your feelings.
His wrong's your wrong, and his right's your right,
In season or out of season.
Stand up and back it in all men's sight--
With _that_ for your only reason!
Nine hundred and ninety-nine can't bide
The shame or mocking or laughter,
But the Thousandth Man will stand by your side
To the gallows-foot--and after!
THE WINNERS
What is the moral? Who rides may read.
When the night is thick and the tracks are blind
A friend at a pinch is a friend indeed,
But a fool to wait for the laggard behind.
Down to Gehenna or up to the Throne,
He travels the fastest who travels alone.
White hands cling to the tightened rein,
Slipping the spur from the booted heel,
Tenderest voices cry 'Turn again,'
Red lips tarnish the scabbarded steel,
High hopes faint on a warm hearth stone--
He travels the fastest who travels alone.
One may fall but he falls by himself--
Falls by himself with himself to blame,
One may attain and to him is pelf,
Loot of the city in Gold or Fame.
Plunder of earth shall be all his own
Who travels the fastest and travels alone.
Wherefore the more ye be holpen and stayed,
Stayed by a friend in the hour of toil,
Sing the heretical song I have made--
His be the labour and yours be the spoil,
Win by his aid and the aid disown--
He travels the fastest who travels alone!
A ST. HELENA LULLABY
'How far is St. Helena from a little child at play?'
What makes you want to wander there with all the world between?
Oh, Mother, call your son again or else he'll run away.
(_No one thinks of winter when the grass is green!_)
'How far is St. Helena from a fight in Paris street?'
I haven't time to answer now--the men are falling fast.
The guns begin to thunder, and the drums begin to beat.
(_If you take the first step you will take the last!_)
'How far is St. Helena from the field of Austerlitz?'
You couldn't hear me if I told--so loud the cannons roar.
But not so far for people who are living by their wits.
(_'Gay go up' means 'Gay go down' the wide world o'er!_)
'How far is St. Helena from an Emperor of France?'
I cannot see--I cannot tell--the c
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