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قراءة كتاب Rada A Belgian Christmas Eve
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RADA
BY THE SAME AUTHOR
- TALES OF THE MERMAID TAVERN
- DRAKE
- THE FOREST OF WILD THYME
- FORTY SINGING SEAMEN
- THE ENCHANTED ISLAND
- THE WINE PRESS
RADA
A BELGIAN CHRISTMAS EVE
BY
ALFRED NOYES
WITH FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS AFTER GOYA
METHUEN & CO. LTD.
36 ESSEX STREET W.C.
LONDON
First Published in 1915
DEDICATION
Thou whose deep ways are in the sea,
Whose footsteps are not known,
To-night a world that turned from Thee
Is waiting—at Thy Throne.
Whose footsteps are not known,
To-night a world that turned from Thee
Is waiting—at Thy Throne.
The towering Babels that we raised
Where scoffing sophists brawl,
The little Antichrists we praised—
The night is on them all.
Where scoffing sophists brawl,
The little Antichrists we praised—
The night is on them all.
The fool hath said ... The fool hath said ...
And we, who deemed him wise,
We, who believed that Thou wast dead,
How should we seek Thine eyes?
And we, who deemed him wise,
We, who believed that Thou wast dead,
How should we seek Thine eyes?
How should we seek to Thee for power,
Who scorned Thee yesterday?
How should we kneel in this dread hour?
Lord, teach us how to pray.
Who scorned Thee yesterday?
How should we kneel in this dread hour?
Lord, teach us how to pray.
Grant us the single heart once more
That mocks no sacred thing,
The Sword of Truth our fathers wore
When Thou wast Lord and King.
That mocks no sacred thing,
The Sword of Truth our fathers wore
When Thou wast Lord and King.
Let darkness unto darkness tell
Our deep unspoken prayer;
For, while our souls in darkness dwell,
We know that Thou art there.
Our deep unspoken prayer;
For, while our souls in darkness dwell,
We know that Thou art there.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
| THE BAYONETS | Frontispiece |
| FACING PAGE | |
| OVER THE JAWS OF THE CROWD | 16 |
| THE OLD DANCE OF CHARLATANS AND BEASTS | 22 |
| THE VAMPIRE | 56 |
Reproduced from etchings by Goya
PRELUDE
Under which banner? It was night
Beyond all nights that ever were.
The Cross was broken. Blood-stained Might
Moved like a tiger from its lair,
And all that heaven had died to quell
Awoke, and mingled earth with hell.
Beyond all nights that ever were.
The Cross was broken. Blood-stained Might
Moved like a tiger from its lair,
And all that heaven had died to quell
Awoke, and mingled earth with hell.
For Europe, if it held a creed,
Held it thro’ custom, not thro’ faith.
Chaos returned in dream and deed,
Right was a legend—Love, a wraith;
And That from which the world began
Was less than even the best in man.
Held it thro’ custom, not thro’ faith.
Chaos returned in dream and deed,
Right was a legend—Love, a wraith;
And That from which the world began
Was less than even the best in man.
God in the image of a snake
Dethroned that dream, too fond, too blind,
The man-shaped God whose heart could break,
Live, die and triumph with mankind;
A Super-snake, a Juggernaut,
Dethroned the Highest of human thought.
Dethroned that dream, too fond, too blind,
The man-shaped God whose heart could break,
Live, die and triumph with mankind;
A Super-snake, a Juggernaut,
Dethroned the Highest of human thought.
Choose, England! For the eternal foe
Within thee, as without, grew strong,
By many a super-subtle blow
Blurring the lines of right and wrong
In Art and Thought, till nought seemed true
But that soul-slaughtering cry of New!
Within thee, as without, grew strong,
By many a super-subtle blow
Blurring the lines of right and wrong
In Art and Thought, till nought seemed true
But that soul-slaughtering cry of New!
New wreckage of the shrines we made
Thro’ centuries of forgotten tears....
We knew not where their hands had laid
Our Master. Twice a thousand years
Had dulled the uncapricious sun.
Manifold worlds obscured the One;
Thro’ centuries of forgotten tears....
We knew not where their hands had laid
Our Master. Twice a thousand years
Had dulled the uncapricious sun.
Manifold worlds obscured the One;
Obscured the reign of Law, our stay,
Our compass thro’ the uncharted sea,
The one sure light, the one sure way,
The one firm base of Liberty;
The one firm road that men have trod
Thro’ Chaos to the Throne of God.
Our compass thro’ the uncharted sea,
The one sure light, the one sure way,
The one firm base of Liberty;
The one firm road that men have trod
Thro’ Chaos to the Throne of God.
Choose ye! A hundred legions cried
Dishonour, or the instant sword!
Ye chose. Ye met that blood-stained tide,
A little kingdom kept its word;
And, dying, cried across the night,
Hear us, O earth, we chose the Right.
Dishonour, or the instant sword!
Ye chose. Ye met that blood-stained tide,
A little kingdom kept its word;
And, dying, cried across the night,
Hear us, O earth, we chose the Right.
Whose is the victory? Though ye stood
Alone against the unmeasured foe,
By all the tears, by all the blood,
That flowed, and have not ceased to flow,
By all the legions that ye hurled
Back thro’ the thunder-shaken world;
Alone against the unmeasured foe,
By all the tears, by all the blood,
That flowed, and have not ceased to flow,
By all the legions that ye hurled
Back thro’ the thunder-shaken world;
By the old that have not where to rest,
By lands laid waste and
By lands laid waste and