ON THE RUSSIAN PERSECUTION OF

O son of man, by lying tongues adored,

By slaughterous hands of slaves with feet red-shod

In carnage deep as ever Christian trod

Profaned with prayer and sacrifice abhorred

And incense from the trembling tyrant's horde,

Brute worshippers or wielders of the rod,

Most murderous even of all that call thee God,

Most treacherous even that ever called thee Lord;

Face loved of little children long ago,

Head hated of the priests and rulers then,

If thou see this, or hear these hounds of thine

Run ravening as the Gadarean swine,

Say, was not this thy Passion, to foreknow

In death's worst hour the works of Christian men?