Loading...
en
English Español Français Italiano

Robert W. Service

Spanish Peasant

We have no aspiration vain
For paradise Utopian,
And here in our sun—happy Spain,
Though man exploit his fellow man,
To high constraint we humbly yield,
And turn from politics to toil,
Content to till a kindly field
And bring forth bounty from the soil.
 
They tell us wars will never cease;
They sy the world is out of joint.
How well we Know! But peace is peace
Even imposed at pistol point.
And we have learnt our lesson well,
By many a death, by many a tear;
So let us live a feudal spell, —
The cost of freedom is too dear.
 
Let us be the cattle kind,
Praying the goad be not a sword;
In servitude obeying blind
The tyrant ruling of our Lord.
His army can be swift to slay,
His Church teach us humility . . .
But never never will we pay
Again blood—price for Liberty.

Other works by Robert W. Service...
Les Grands Mutiles

I saw three wounded of the war: And the first had lost his eyes; And the second went on wheels and… No legs below the thighs; And the face of the third was feat…
The Robbers

Alas! I see that thrushes three Are ravishing my old fig tree, In whose green shade I smoked my… And waited for the fruit to ripe; From green to purple softly swell
The Under-Dogs

What have we done, Oh Lord, that… Are evil starred? How have we erred and sinned to be So scourged and scarred? Lash us, Oh Lord, with scorpion w…
To Frank Dodd

Since four decades you’ve been to… Both Guide and Friend, I fondly hope you’ll always be, Right to the end; And though my rhymes you rarely sc…
The Wife

“Tell Annie I’ll be home in time To help her with her Christmas—tr… That’s what he wrote, and hark! th… Of Christmas bells, and where is… And how the house is dark and sad,
The Bread-Knife Ballad

A little child was sitting Up on… And down down her cheeks the bitte… And as I sadly listened I heard t… 'Twas uttered in a voice so soft a… “Not guilty” said the Jury And th…
New Year's Eve

It’s cruel cold on the water—front… Only the black tide weltering, onl… And I, alone, like a storm—tossed… Shuffling along in the icy wind, g… They’re playing a tune in McGuffy…
The Buyers

Father drank himself to death,— Quite enjoyed it. Urged to draw a sober breath He’d avoid it. ‘Save your sympathy,’ said Dad;
My Madonna

I haled me a woman from the street… Shameless, but, oh, so fair! I bade her sit in the model’s seat And I painted her sitting there. I hid all trace of her heart uncle…
Ghosts

I to a crumpled cabin came upon a hillside high, And with me was a withered dame As weariful as I. “It used to be our home,” she said…
The Pigeons of St. Marks

Something’s wrong in Pigeon—land; 'Tisn’t as it used to be, When the pilgrim, corn in hand, Courted us with laughing glee; When we crooned with pinions furle…
If You Had a Friend

If you had a friend strong, simple… Who knew your faults and who under… Who believed in the very best of y… And who cared for you as a father… Who would stick by you to the very…
May Miracle

On this festive first of May, Wending wistfully my way Three sad sights I saw today. The first was such a lovely lad He lit with grace the sordid stree…
A Bachelor

‘Why keep a cow when I can buy,’ Said he, ‘the milk I need,’ I wanted to spit in his eye Of selfishness and greed; But did not, for the reason he
The Land God Forgot

The lonely sunsets flare forlorn Down valleys dreadly desolate; The lordly mountains soar in scorn As still as death, as stern as fat… The lonely sunsets flame and die;
 1



Top