ine, mine" in inarticulate wrath.
He dareth not make raid on goods his next friend hath
With open violence, nor loose his hand to steal,
Save in community and for the common weal
'Twixt Saxon man and man. He is more congruous grown,
Holding a subtler plan to make the world his own
By organised self-seeking in the paths of power.
He is new drilled to wait. He knoweth his appointed hour
And his appointed prey. Of all he maketh tool,
Even of his own sad virtues, to cajole and rule,
Even of Thee, Lord God.--I will expound this thing,
The creed of these white thieves which boast of Thee, their king,
As partner in their crimes. The head knaves of the horde,
Those who inspire the rest and give the masterword,
The leaders of their thought, their lords political,
Sages, kings, poets, priests, in their hearts one and all--
For all their faith avowed and their lip service done
In face of Thy high fires each day beneath the sun--
Ay, and their prelates too, their men of godliest worth,
Believe no word of Thee as master of their Earth,
Controller of their acts, no word of Thy high right,
To bend men to obedience and at need to smite,
No word of Thy true law, the enforcement of Thy peace,
Thy all-deciding arm in the world's policies.
They ignore Thee on the Earth. They grant Thee, as their "God,"
The kingdom of the heavens, seeing it a realm untrod,
Untreadable by man, a space, a _res nullius_
Or No-Man's Land, which they as loyal men and pious
Leave and assign to Thee to deal with as Thou wilt,
To hold as Thy strong throne or loose as water spilt,
For sun and wind to gather in the wastes of air.
Whether of a truth Thou _art_ they know not, Lord, nor care;
Only they name Thee "God," and pay Thee their prayers vain,
As dormant over-lord and pensioned suzerain,
The mediatised blind monarch of a world, outgrown
Of its faith's swaddling clothes, which wills to walk alone.
The Earth not so. 'Tis theirs, the prize of the strong hand,
The strongest being their own by sea alike and land.
"Thy Will be done," they cry, "Father which art in Heaven,"
(Where Thou canst harm nor hurt not one day in the seven.)
And if they add "on Earth" they deem Thee impotent,
Seeing Thee drowse thus long and leave men to their bent.
They mean "Thy Will in Heaven," or in their "World to come."
"Terram autem dedit filiis hominum."
So think their chiefs, their lords. For