BETE HUMAINE

Riding through Ruwu swamp, about sunrise,

I saw the world awake; and as the ray

Touched the tall grasses where they dream till day,

Lo, the bright air alive with dragonflies,

With brittle wings aquiver, and great eyes

Piloting crimson bodies, slender and gay.

I aimed at one, and struck it, and it lay

Broken and lifeless, with fast-fading dyes...

Then my soul sickened with a sudden pain

And horror, at my own careless cruelty,

That where all things are cruel I had slain

A creature whose sweet life it is to fly:

Like beasts that prey with bloody claw...

Nay, they

Must slay to live, but what excuse had I?