sw00383jt-b1.e18

Justan Tamarind: Book I       e18                            



Has come.  Great Moiland shall not have a king,
But kings; for while the source of power yet springs
From Justan, people, soon the source of power,
As I have said, will spring from you.  What things
Will then occur, what roses then will flower,
What thorns, shall be/ your responsibilities.
With Aethea volcanic at this hour
And Urop solid once again, and these
Fair stahts uncharged potentialities,

The grave, internal revolution, here
To be officially begun, is fear
Transmuted into acts by which this land
Shall save itself, or die.  And there's no bier
More sad to gaze at or to understand
Than one which holds a nation, because it
Walked on too proudly to extend its hand,
Because it could not change--for lack of wit,
Because its people were divorced from it."

With this, the bold and fiery Hugh again
Moves back/ to take his place among the men
Of/ The House of Princes, while on the ledge,
Where Saul and Parth were watching these/ when
I last looked, only Saul remains/ to wedge
----- human flesh in the Eribon spur,
To speculate; and now, standing/ near the edge
Of the royal platform, Seth, stirring the air
Aimlessly, speaks, sharply questioning:  "Were

We, were we less--these princes and I--
For not seeing, for not understanding why
Our Moiland would profit by change?  Yes;
For the mind of Man progresses, and the eye
Of rule must watch, so the rule may progress,
Not lag/ too far behind.  Our present king,
Good representatives, who will address
You now, is yet/ best for us.  Let ayes ring
For him, as Yuston suggests."  "Aye."  "Your king."

"When, in this Age of Crises, kingdoms fall,
Their bodies burned beyond reclaim, recall,
And mankind suffers for mankind's mistakes,
Our duty's not to weep upon a pall;
But build from/ what is--for our children's sakes.
I thought there was a glory in my throne
Which would not/ be removed: that Justan wakes
And sleeps; and yet is so admired in bone,
In heart, that no man would/ think to groan 





Brian A. J. Salchert