Happy indeed is he who goes
The Straight and Narrow Way,
And heedeth not the lure of those
Who from His precepts stray.
With joy observeth he the acts
The Master doth proclaim,
And, day or night, no fervor lacks
To bless His holy name.
And he shall be a fruitful tree
Deep-rooted in the Truth;
And not a leaf shall withered be
Nor fruitage cease, forsooth.
But those who follow not the Course
The Master hath decreed,
Shall shrivel and decay, perforce,
And barren be their seed.
It follows then, that those who sin
Must turn again to clay,
While righteous men are gathered in
On Resurrection Day.
For God rewards the Pure in Heart
And knoweth all their needs;
While those who from his ways depart
Shall be like broken reeds.
_NOT_ PEACE, BUT REVENGE!
Peace? do you say? When my homestead is razed,
And Death stalks the fields where my cattle once grazed;
And the Dear One is dead
Whom I courted and wed,
The Joy of my Life when the hearthstone fires blazed.
Peace? What a travesty! Give back my wife
And the brave little son, who gave up his life
That she might escape
From the murder or rape
Of helmeted hordes in the unequal strife!
Peace? Where is my father? Cleaning your shoes!
Like a thousand old men you maim and abuse.
He was true to his Land,
So you cut off his hand
And left him but slav'ry or famine to choose.
Peace? My wounds cry aloud: Never! I say
Till your legions are killed or driven away
And my country is free:
But, stay! What's that to me,
Since all my own Loved Ones lie murdered to-day?
No!! _Not_ Peace, but REVENGE! Here is my gun--
Surrendered? O, No! for its work is not done:
When my bayonet's sting
Smites the heart of your King,
And your hell-hounds are flayed,--_then_ Peace will be _won_!