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1837–1909

THE BURDEN OF AUSTRIA

Algernon Charles Swinburne

O daughter of pride, wasted with misery, With all the glory that thy shame put on Stripped off thy shame, O daughter of Babylon, Yea, whoso be it, yea, happy shall he be

That as thou hast served us hath rewarded thee. Blessed, who throweth against war's boundary stone Thy warrior brood, and breaketh bone by bone Misrule thy son, thy daughter Tyranny.

That landmark shalt thou not remove for shame, But sitting down there in a widow's weed Wail; for what fruit is now of thy red fame? Have thy sons too and daughters learnt indeed

What thing it is to weep, what thing to bleed? Is it not thou that now art but a name? ( ii )

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THE BURDEN OF AUSTRIA · Algernon Charles Swinburne · Poetry Cove