The pavement slabs burn loose beneath my feet, A chafing savage, down the decent street; And passion rends my vitals as I pass, Where boldly shines your shuttered door of glass.

The shivering birds beneath the eaves Have sheltered for the night.

Oh, I must keep my heart inviolate Against the potent poison of your hate.

If we must die, O let us nobly die, So that our precious blood may not be shed In vain; then even the monsters we defy Shall be constrained to honor us though …