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John Oxenham

John Oxenham

No Peace But A Right Peace

   An inconclusive peace!—
   A peace that would be no peace—
   Naught but a treacherous truce for breeding
   Of a later, greater, baser-still betrayal!—
   “No!”...
   The spirits of our myriad valiant dead,
   Who died to make peace sure and life secure,
   Thunder one mighty cry of righteous indignation,—
   One vast imperative, unanswerable “No!”...
   “Not for that, not for that, did we die!”—
   They cry;—
   “—To give fresh life to godless knavery!
  —To forge again the chains of slavery
   Such as humanity has never known!
   We gave our lives to set Life free,
   Loyally, willingly gave we,
   Lest on our children, and on theirs,
   Should come like misery.
   And now, from our souls’ heights and depths,
   We cry to you,—“Beware,
   Lest you defraud us of one smallest atom of the price
   Of this our sacrifice!
   One fraction less than that full liberty,
   Which comes of righteous and enduring peace,
   Will be betrayal of your trust,—
   Betrayal of your race, the world, and God.”

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Autres oeuvres par John Oxenham...
Blinded!

You that still have your sight, Remember me!— I risked my life, I lost my eyes, That you might see. Now in the dark I go,
 4
After Work

Lord, when Thou seest that my wor… Let me not linger on, With failing powers, Adown the weary hours,— A workless worker in a world of wo…
Burden-Bearers

Burden-bearers are we all, Great and small. Burden-sharers be ye all, Great and small! Where another shares the load,
For The Men At The Front

Lord God of Hosts, whose mighty h… Dominion holds on sea and land, In Peace and War Thy Will we see Shaping the larger liberty. Nations may rise and nations fall,
Red Breast

I saw one hanging on a tree, And O his face was sad to see,— Misery, misery me! There were berries red upon his he… And in his hands, and on his feet,
Kapiolani In Rarotongan

Mr. F.W. Christian, of the Polynesian Society of New Zealand, whose personal acquaintance with the South Sea Islands and their dialects is unique, is translating “Kapiolani” into Ra...
S. Elizabeth’s Leper

“My lord, there came unto the gate One, in such pitiful estate, So all forlorn and desolate, Ill-fed, ill-clad, of ills compact… A leper too,—his poor flesh wracke…
A Telephone Message

Hello! Hello! Are you there? Are you there? Ah! That you? Well,— This is just to tell you That there’s trouble in the air...
The Winnowing

Lord, Thou hast stricken us, smit… Winnowed us fine on the dread thre… “Had I not reason?—far you had st… Vain was My calling, you would no… Low in the dust, Lord, our hearts…
The Pilgrim Way

But once I pass this way, And then—no more. But once—and then, the Silent Doo… Swings on its hinges,— Opens... closes,—
Comfort Ye!

"Comfort ye, my people!" Saith your God,-- "And be ye comforted! And--be--ye--comforted!" Roughly my plough did plough you,
Prince Of Peace

O Thou who standest both for God… O King of Kings, who wore no eart… O Prince of Peace, unto Thy feet… And lay our burden down. The weight had grown beyond our st…
Livingstone

To lift the sombre fringes of the… To open lands long darkened to the… To heal grim wounds, to give the b… Right mightily wrought he. Forth to the fight he fared,
Credo

Not what, but WHOM, I do believ… That, in my darkest hour of need, Hath comfort that no mortal creed To mortal man may give;— Not what, but WHOM!
Poison-Seeds

Is there, in you or me, Seed of that poison-tree Which, in its bitter fruiting, bor… Such vintage sore Of red calamity—



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