They have tied the world in a tether,
They have bought over God with a fee;
While three men hold together,
The kingdoms are less by three.
We have done with the kisses that sting,
The thief's mouth red from the feast,
The blood on the hands or the king,
And the lie at the lips of the priest.
Will they tie the wind in a tether
Put a bit in the jaws of the sea ?
While three men hold together,
The kingdoms are less by three.
Let our flag run out straight in the wind
The old red shall be floated again,
When, the ranks that are thin shall be thinned,
When the names that are twenty are ten.
While, the shepherd set wolves on his sheep,
And the Emperor, halters his kine.
While Shame is a watchman asleep,
And faith is a keeper of swine.
Let the winds shake our flag like a feather,
Like the plumes of the foam of the sea!
While three men hold together,
The kingdoms are less by three.
SWINBURNE.
Notes
From the Sydney Newspaper The International Socialist 26 Jan 1918 Page 4.
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