put my name down
foremost
in the band;
One?
One?
Victor Hugo - Poems
TORU DUTT.
AFTER THE COUP D'ETAT.
_("Devant les trahisons. ")_
[Bk. VII, xvi. , Jersey, Dec. 2, 1852. ]
Before foul treachery and heads hung down,
I'll fold my arms, indignant but serene.
Oh! faith in fallen things--be thou my crown,
My force, my joy, my prop on which I lean:
Yes, whilst _he's_ there, or struggle some or fall,
O France, dear France, for whom I weep in vain.
Tomb of my sires, nest of my loves--my all,
I ne'er shall see thee with these eyes again.
I shall not see thy sad, sad sounding shore,
France, save my duty, I shall all forget;
Amongst the true and tried, I'll tug my oar,
And rest proscribed to brand the fawning set.
O bitter exile, hard, without a term,
Thee I accept, nor seek nor care to know
Who have down-truckled 'mid the men deemed firm,
And who have fled that should have fought the foe.
If true a thousand stand, with them I stand;
A hundred? 'tis enough: we'll Sylla brave;
Ten?
put my name down foremost in the band;
One? --well, alone--until I find my grave.
TORU DUTT.
PATRIA. [1]
_("La-haut, qui sourit. ")_
[Bk. VII. vii. , September, 1853. ]
Who smiles there? Is it
A stray spirit,
Or woman fair?
Sombre yet soft the brow!
Bow, nations, bow;
O soul in air,
Speak--what art thou?
In grief the fair face seems--
What means those sudden gleams?
Our antique pride from dreams
Starts up, and beams
Its conquering glance,--
To make our sad hearts dance,
And wake in woods hushed long
The wild bird's song.
Angel of Day!
