II

Because Mankind is glad and brave and young,

Full of gay flames that white and scarlet glow,

All joys and passions that Mankind may know

By you were nobly felt and nobly sung.

Because Mankind's heart every day is wrung

By Fate's wild hands that twist and tear it so,

Therefore you echoed Man's undying woe,

A harp Aeolian on Life's branches hung.

So did the ghosts of toiling children hover

About the piteous portals of your mind;

Your eyes, that looked on glory, could discover

The angry scar to which the world was blind:

And it was grief that made Mankind your lover,

And it was grief that made you love Mankind.