No More Learning

Don't hurt him!
He is my daddy--" "Down with the cursed spy!
Shoot him at once! " a hundred voices said;
"Then we can get on with our work! " Their yells,
The clangour of the tocsin, and the roar
Of cannon mingled. 'Mid the dreadful noise,
The child, still clinging to his father's knees,
Cried, "I tell you he's my daddy. Let him go! "
Pale, tearful, with one arm thrown out to shield
His father, and the other round his leg,
The child stood. "He is pretty! " said a girl.
"How old are you, my little one? " The child
Answered, "Don't kill my daddy! " Many men
Lowered their eyes, and the fierce hands that gripped
The prisoner began to loose their hold.
"Send the kid to its mother! " one man cried,
"And end this job!
" "His mother died last month,"
The prisoner said. "Do you know Catherine? "
He asked his little boy. "Yes," said the child,
"She lives next door to us. " "Then go to her,"
He said, in grave, calm, kindly tones. "No! No!
I cannot go without you! " cried his son.
"They're going to hurt you, daddy, all these men! "
The father whispered to the Communards
That held him. "Let me say good-bye to him,
And you can shoot me round the corner-house;
Or where you will! " They loosed their prisoner
A moment, and he said unto his child:
"You see, we're only playing. They are friends,
And I am going for a walk with them.
Be a good boy, my darling, and run home. "
Raising his face up to be kissed, the child
Smiled through his tears, and skipped into the house.