Gods, what a moral! Yet in vain I jest. The France which has been, and shall be again, Is the most serious, and perhaps the best, Of all the nations which have power with men. France only of the nations has this plain Thought in the world, to scorn hypocrisy, And by this token she shall purge the stain Of her sins yet, though these as scarlet be. Let her put off her folly! 'Tis a cloak Which hides her virtue. Let her foremost stand, The champion of all necks which feel the yoke, As once she stood sublime in every land. Let her forgo her Tonquins, and make good Her boast to man, of man's high brotherhood! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LEEDLE YAWCOB STRAUSS by CHARLES FOLLEN ADAMS THE FOREST MAID by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT LEONARDO'S 'MONNA LISA' by EDWARD DOWDEN TRUST by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN AMOUR by WILLIAM BROWNE (1591-1643) A CAPTAIN OF THE PRESS-GANG by BLISS CARMAN |