Though all that draw thy breath Bled from all veins to death, And thy dead body were the grave of all their graves, And thine unchilded womb For all their tombs a tomb, At least within thee as on thee room were none for slaves. This power thou hast, to be, Come death or come not, free; That in all tongues of time's this praise be chanted of thee, That in thy wild worst hour This power put in thee power, And moved as hope around and hung as heaven above thee, And while earth sat in sadness In only thee put gladness, Put strength and love, to make all hearts of ages love thee. That in death's face thy chant Arose up jubilant, And thy great heart with thy great peril grew more great: And sweet for bitter tears Put out the fires of fears, And love made lovely for thee loveless hell and hate; And they that house with error, Cold shame and burning terror, Fled from truth risen and thee made mightier than thy fate. This shall all years remember; For this thing shall September Have only name of honour, only sign of white. And this year's fearful name, France, in thine house of fame Above all names of all thy triumphs shalt thou write, When, seeing thy freedom stand Even at despair's right hand, The cry thou gavest at heart was only of delight. DIRAE Guai a voi, anime prave. Dante. Soyez maudits, d'abord d'etre ce que vous etes, Et puis soyez maudits d'obseder les poetes! Victor Hugo. I A DEAD KING _Ferdinand II entered Malebolge May 22nd, 1859._ Go down to hell. This end is good to see; The breath is lightened and the sense at ease Because thou art not; sense nor breath there is In what thy body was, whose soul shall be Chief nerve of hell's pained heart eternally. Thou art abolished from the midst of these That are what thou wast: Pius from his knees Blows off the dust that flecked them, bowed for thee. Yea, now the long-tongued slack-lipped litanies Fail, and the priest has no more prayer to sell-- Now the last Jesuit found about thee is The beast that made thy fouler flesh his cell-- Time lays his finger on thee, saying, "Cease; Here is no room for thee; go down to hell." II A YEAR AFTER