INSTANS TYRANNUS.

I.Of the million or two, more or less,I rule and possess,One man, for some cause undefined,Was least to my mind.II.I struck him, he grovelled of course—For, what was his force?I pinned him to earth with my weightAnd persistence of hate;And he lay, would not moan, would not curse,As his lot might be worse.III.“Were the object less mean, would he stand“At the swing of my hand!“For obscurity helps him, and blots“The hole where he squats.”So, I set my five wits on the stretchTo inveigle the wretch.All in vain! Gold and jewels I threwStill he couched there perdue;I tempted his blood and his flesh,Hid in roses my mesh,Choicest cates and the flagon’s best spilthStill he kept to his filth.IV.Had he kith now or kin, were accessTo his heart, did I pressJust a son or a mother to seize!No such booty as these.Were it simply a friend to pursue’Mid my million or two,Who could pay me, in person or pelf,What he owes me himself!No: I could not but smile through my chafe:For the fellow lay safeAs his mates do, the midge and the nit,—Through minuteness, to wit.V.Then a humour more great took its placeAt the thought of his face:The droop, the low cares of the mouth,The trouble uncouth’Twixt the brows, all that air one is fainTo put out of its pain.And, “no!” I admonished myself,“Is one mocked by an elf,“Is one baffled by toad or by rat?“The gravamen’s in that!“How the lion, who crouches to suit“His back to my foot,“Would admire that I stand in debate!“But the small turns the great“If it vexes you,—that is the thing!“Toad or rat vex the king?“Though I waste half my realm to unearth“Toad or rat, ’tis well worth!”VI.So, I soberly laid my last planTo extinguish the man.Round his creep-hole, with never a breakRan my fires for his sake;Over-head, did my thunder combineWith my under-ground mine:Till I looked from my labour contentTo enjoy the event.VII.When sudden ... how think ye, the end?Did I say “without friend?”Say rather from marge to blue margeThe whole sky grew his targeWith the sun’s self for visible boss,While an Arm ran acrossWhich the earth heaved beneath like a breastWhere the wretch was safe prest!Do you see! Just my vengeance complete,The man sprang to his feet,Stood erect, caught at God’s skirts, and prayed!—So,Iwas afraid!

Of the million or two, more or less,I rule and possess,One man, for some cause undefined,Was least to my mind.

Of the million or two, more or less,

I rule and possess,

One man, for some cause undefined,

Was least to my mind.

II.

I struck him, he grovelled of course—For, what was his force?I pinned him to earth with my weightAnd persistence of hate;And he lay, would not moan, would not curse,As his lot might be worse.

I struck him, he grovelled of course—

For, what was his force?

I pinned him to earth with my weight

And persistence of hate;

And he lay, would not moan, would not curse,

As his lot might be worse.

III.

“Were the object less mean, would he stand“At the swing of my hand!“For obscurity helps him, and blots“The hole where he squats.”So, I set my five wits on the stretchTo inveigle the wretch.All in vain! Gold and jewels I threwStill he couched there perdue;I tempted his blood and his flesh,Hid in roses my mesh,Choicest cates and the flagon’s best spilthStill he kept to his filth.

“Were the object less mean, would he stand

“At the swing of my hand!

“For obscurity helps him, and blots

“The hole where he squats.”

So, I set my five wits on the stretch

To inveigle the wretch.

All in vain! Gold and jewels I threw

Still he couched there perdue;

I tempted his blood and his flesh,

Hid in roses my mesh,

Choicest cates and the flagon’s best spilth

Still he kept to his filth.

IV.

Had he kith now or kin, were accessTo his heart, did I pressJust a son or a mother to seize!No such booty as these.Were it simply a friend to pursue’Mid my million or two,Who could pay me, in person or pelf,What he owes me himself!No: I could not but smile through my chafe:For the fellow lay safeAs his mates do, the midge and the nit,—Through minuteness, to wit.

Had he kith now or kin, were access

To his heart, did I press

Just a son or a mother to seize!

No such booty as these.

Were it simply a friend to pursue

’Mid my million or two,

Who could pay me, in person or pelf,

What he owes me himself!

No: I could not but smile through my chafe:

For the fellow lay safe

As his mates do, the midge and the nit,

—Through minuteness, to wit.

Then a humour more great took its placeAt the thought of his face:The droop, the low cares of the mouth,The trouble uncouth’Twixt the brows, all that air one is fainTo put out of its pain.And, “no!” I admonished myself,“Is one mocked by an elf,“Is one baffled by toad or by rat?“The gravamen’s in that!“How the lion, who crouches to suit“His back to my foot,“Would admire that I stand in debate!“But the small turns the great“If it vexes you,—that is the thing!“Toad or rat vex the king?“Though I waste half my realm to unearth“Toad or rat, ’tis well worth!”

Then a humour more great took its place

At the thought of his face:

The droop, the low cares of the mouth,

The trouble uncouth

’Twixt the brows, all that air one is fain

To put out of its pain.

And, “no!” I admonished myself,

“Is one mocked by an elf,

“Is one baffled by toad or by rat?

“The gravamen’s in that!

“How the lion, who crouches to suit

“His back to my foot,

“Would admire that I stand in debate!

“But the small turns the great

“If it vexes you,—that is the thing!

“Toad or rat vex the king?

“Though I waste half my realm to unearth

“Toad or rat, ’tis well worth!”

VI.

So, I soberly laid my last planTo extinguish the man.Round his creep-hole, with never a breakRan my fires for his sake;Over-head, did my thunder combineWith my under-ground mine:Till I looked from my labour contentTo enjoy the event.

So, I soberly laid my last plan

To extinguish the man.

Round his creep-hole, with never a break

Ran my fires for his sake;

Over-head, did my thunder combine

With my under-ground mine:

Till I looked from my labour content

To enjoy the event.

VII.

When sudden ... how think ye, the end?Did I say “without friend?”Say rather from marge to blue margeThe whole sky grew his targeWith the sun’s self for visible boss,While an Arm ran acrossWhich the earth heaved beneath like a breastWhere the wretch was safe prest!Do you see! Just my vengeance complete,The man sprang to his feet,Stood erect, caught at God’s skirts, and prayed!—So,Iwas afraid!

When sudden ... how think ye, the end?

Did I say “without friend?”

Say rather from marge to blue marge

The whole sky grew his targe

With the sun’s self for visible boss,

While an Arm ran across

Which the earth heaved beneath like a breast

Where the wretch was safe prest!

Do you see! Just my vengeance complete,

The man sprang to his feet,

Stood erect, caught at God’s skirts, and prayed!

—So,Iwas afraid!

“Instans Tyrannus,” thepresenttyrant, the tyrant for the time only, whose apparently illimitable power to hurt shrivels into nothing in presence of the King of kings, whose dominion is everlasting.

The poor victim of this tyrant’s oppression is a true child of God, but the nobility of his inner life is of course concealed from the proud wretch who despises him, and who, it must be remembered, is the speaker throughout. We must be careful, therefore, to estimate at their proper worth the epithets he applies and the motives he attributes to the object of his hate.Hecan, of course, think of no other reason why his victim “would not moan, would not curse,” than that, if he did, “his lot might be worse.” And again, when temptation failed to shake his steadfast patience, the tyrant is quite consistent with himself, as one of those who call evil good, and good evil, in speaking of him as still keeping “to his filth.” The last stanza is magnificent. Has the power of prayer ever been set forth in nobler language?

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