Page:Ferishtah's fancies - Browning (1884).djvu/141

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FERISHTAH'S FANCIES.
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Come I to pay my due!' Whereat one slaveObsequious spreads a carpet for thy foot,His fellow offers sweetmeats, while a thirdPrepares a pipe: what thanks or praise have they?Such as befit prompt service. GratitudeGoes past them to the Shah whose gracious nodSet all the sweet civility at work;But for his ordinance, I much suspect,My scholar had been left to cool his heelsUncarpeted, or warm them—likelier still—With bastinado for intrusion. SlavesNeeds must obey their master: 'force and force,No end of forces,' act as bids some forceSupreme o'er all and each: where find that one?How recognize him? Simply as thou didst
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