50 WHY JESUS WEPT
I shake my soles from Britain’s dust:
I shall not go there till I must ;
And when I must—-ah, you suppose
Even I must !—I hold my nose.
Farewell, you filthy-minded people !
I know a stable from a steeple.
Farewell, my decent-minded friends !
I know arc lights from candle-ends.
Farewell! A.poet begs your alms,
Will walk awhile among the palms,
An honest love, a loyal kiss,
Can show him better worlds than this ;
Nor will he come again to yours
While he knows champak-stars! from sewers.
1 The champak, one of the most beautiful
of tropical flowers, has a star-shaped blossom.