Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE SPARK FROM THE ENGINE, by JANET B. MONTGOMERY MCGOVERN


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE SPARK FROM THE ENGINE, by                    
First Line: The wood by the side of the railway is burned
Last Line: And to the son I shall not see.
Subject(s): Ancestry & Ancestors; Fire-weeds


THE wood by the side of the railway is burned.
It was government wood, belonging to our gracious lord,
The Emperor, to Him descended from a line of Gods
Who deigned to step from heaven to earth
When chaos reigned, to give rulers to this fair land.
And it is burned, this wood, utterly destroyed
By a spark, men say, from a passing engine.
Some fireman was careless, or engine-driver, perhaps.
It matters little who. 'Tis I must pay the penalty.
The supreme price; for I am manager of the road.
And to offer a lesser life were affront to Him
Who is sprung from the loins of Gods.
To-day I make all things ready and take leave of my bride,
She will understand; she is brave and schooled in the old teachings.
Then I will bow before the tablets of my ancestors,
And to-night I shall sit on the mat alone—with my knife—
As my ancestors sat
When they had offended the Gods, or the God-descended.
My assistant would die in my place.
For him the wine of life is drunk; its dregs are bitter.
But this must not be; Gods will not be mocked.
Rather must I be proud, for I have been given the choice of deaths,
And Hari-kiri is a noble death, cleansing from all stain;
One that no base-born man may choose.
Dying so, my unborn child will revere his father's memory,
And my name will be placed beside those of honorable ancestors.
So, dying, I drink to Death and to my lord, the Emperor,
And to the son I shall not see.





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