The Book of the Homeless/A Message
For works with similar titles, see The Message.
A MESSAGE
This is our gift to the Homeless. What shall it bear from me Safe in a land that prospers Girded by leagues of sea?— Tear moistened words of pity, Bountiful sympathy.
Clearly we see the picture, Horror has fixed our eyes. Fighting to guard its hearthstones A nation mangled lies. Fire has charred its beauty. Murder has stilled its cries;
And truths we love and cherish Hang in the trembling scale. If you win, we win by proxy. If you fail, we are doomed to fail. The world is beset by a monster. Yet we watch to see who shall prevail.
Our souls are racked and quickened. But prudence counsels no. So we lavish our gold and pity And wait to see how it will go,— This pivotal war of the ages With its heartrending ebb and flow.
For ever there comes the moment When destiny bids "choose." By the edge of the sword men perish. By selfishness all they lose. So Belgium stands transfigured As the one who did not refuse. Robert Grant
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1930.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1940, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 84 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
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