Page:Chesterton - The Ballad of St. Barbara and other verses, 1922.djvu/19

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Caesar hath made a treaty
With the moon and with the sun,
All the gods that men can praise
Praise him every one.

There is peace with the anointed
Of the scarlet oils of Bel,
With the Fish God, where the whirlpool
Is a winding stair to hell,

With the pathless pyramids of slime,
Where the mitred negro lifts
To his black cherub in the cloud
Abominable gifts,

With the leprous silver cities
Where the dumb priests dance and nod,
But not with the three windows
And the last name of God.'"

They are firing, we are falling, and the red skies rend and shiver us,
Barbara, Barbara, we may not loose a breath—

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