110 
A NOTE ON THE ALEXANDRINE 
 
3. After the second foot : 
 
Oh !  but you’re hurt ! 
Young man !  she must be tended. 
 
Well. 
No !  take my shirt !  Staunch the dear breast. 
 
A miracle. 
 
4. After the fourth foot : 
 
Serene, august, untroubled, cold, her prayers are worth 
More than our steel, more than our gold, that bind the earth. 
 
5. After both second and fourth feet : 
 
Come, let me hold my crystal cross up to the moon ! 
A guess of gold were at a loss to tell its tune. 
 
6. After the first foot : 
 
Bow down to the cross !  His love purge thee :  His Passion save 
thee ! 
Christ crown the work !  Here is the blessing that he gave thee ! 
 
7. After the first and fifth feet : 
 
No news !  No word of Mortadello’s fate !  No hope. 
To bruise the head of the old snake, the State.  No scope 
 
8. After the first half foot and the second foot : 
 
Come, save me, save thy maiden !  Strike each barbèd dart 
Home to the grave convent and cloister of my heart, 
 
9. After the fifth foot : 
 
Last, to the lords who by their attitude applaud 
This day of burial to faction, feud, and fraud.