No More Learning

A simple, fearless man,
Charged with the task of carrying out the law,
He gave no quarter, and he asked for none.
All the day he had fought against the mob
That swept with sword and flame along the streets
Of Paris, while the German conqueror
Battened on France. A woman sprang at him,
And shrieked, "You have been killing us! " "That's true,"
The man replied. "Come, shoot him here! " she screamed.
"No! Farther on! At the Bastille! " "No! Here! "
And while the crowd disputed, the man said:
"Kill me just where you like; but kill me quick. "
"Yes! " cried the woman, "shoot him where he stands.
He is a wolf!
" "A wolf that has been caught,"
The prisoner said, "by a vile pack of curs! "
"The wretch insults us! " yelled the furious mob.
"Down with him! Death! Death! Death! " And with clenched fists
They struck him on the face. An angry flame
Gleamed in his eyes, but, silent and superb,
He marched along the street amid the howls
Of the ferocious, maddened multitude!
God! How they hated him! To shoot him seemed
Too light a sentence, as he calmly strode
Over the corpses of their comrades strewn
Along the street. "How many did you kill? "
They shrieked at him. "Murderer! Traitor!