ROLL OF THE KETTLEDRUM 



Scoff, man ! egotistical, proud, unobservant, 

 Since I with man's grief dare to sympathise 

 thus ; 

 Why scoff? — fellow-creature I am, fellow- 

 servant 

 Of God, can man fathom God's dealings 

 with us ? 



The wide gulf that parts us may yet be no 

 wider 

 Than that which parts you from some being 

 more blest ; 

 And there may be more links 'twixt the horse 

 and his rider 

 Than ever your shallow philosophy guess't. 



You are proud of your power, and vain of 



your courage, 



And your blood, Anglo-Saxon, or Norman, 



or Celt, 



Though your gifts you extol, and our gifts 



you disparage. 



Your perils, your pleasures, your sorrows 



we've felt. 

 II i6i 



