"
Let the Unionist Party hesitate before it seeks to revive this hideous,
utterly irrational and most unchristianlike spirit at the very heart of
the British Empire. The sower of hate is the reaper of death.
TO MELOS, POMEGRANATE ISLE.
By GRACE HARRIET MACURDY.
(Destroyed by Athens, 416 B.C., because of her refusal to
break neutrality.--Thucydides V., 84-116; Euripides, "Trojan
Women.")
O thou Pomegranate of the Sea,
Sweet Melian isle, across the years
Thy Belgian sister calls to thee
In anguished sweat of blood and tears.
Her fate like thine--a ruthless band
Hath ravaged all her loveliness.
How Athens spoiled thy prosperous land
Athenian lips with shame confess.
Thou, too, a land of lovely arts,
Of potter's and of sculptor's skill--
Thy folk of high undaunted hearts
As those that throb in Belgium still.
Within thy harbor's circling rim
The warships long, with banners bright,
Sailed bearing Athens' message grim--
"God hates the weak. Respect our Might."
The flame within thy fanes grew cold,
Stilled by the foeman's swarming hordes.
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