It signifies that those who would desire to
behold a proper memorial to Kurban Sahib must look out at the house. And,
Sahib, the house is not there, nor the well, nor the big tank which they
call dams, nor the little fruit-trees, nor the cattle. There is nothing
at all, Sahib, except the two trees withered by the fire. The rest is
like the desert here--or my hand--or my heart. Empty, Sahib--all empty!
"THEIR LAWFUL OCCASIONS"
THE WET LITANY
When the water's countenance
Blurrs 'twixt glance and second glance;
When the tattered smokes forerun
Ashen 'neath a silvered sun;
When the curtain of the haze
Shuts upon our helpless ways--
Hear the Channel Fleet at sea;
_Libera nos domine_!
When the engines' bated pulse
Scarcely thrills the nosing hulls;
When the wash along the side
Sounds, a sudden, magnified
When the intolerable blast
Marks each blindfold minute passed.
When the fog-buoy's squattering flight
Guides us through the haggard night;
When the warning bugle blows;
When the lettered doorways close;
When our brittle townships press,
Impotent, on emptiness.
When the unseen leadsmen lean
Questioning a deep unseen;
When their lessened count they tell
To a bridge invisible;
When the hid and perilous
Cliffs return our cry to us.
When the treble thickness spread
Swallows up our next-ahead;
When her siren's frightened whine
Shows her sheering out of line;
When, her passage undiscerned,
We must turn where she has turned--
Hear the Channel Fleet at sea;
_Libera nos Domine_!
"THEIR LAWFUL OCCASIONS"
PART I
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