BIBLIOGRAPHY. _Southern Writers_, by W. P. Trent (New York, 1905); letters from Mr. Rule to the Author.
[From _When John Bull Comes A Courtin'_ (Louisville, Kentucky, 1903)]
What right hast thou to more than thou dost need While others perish for the want of bread? What right hast thou upon a palace bed To idly slumber while the homeless plead; A vicious and voluptuous life to lead, While millions struggle on in rags and shame? What right hast thou thus vilely to inflame Thy fellow men with hate, O fiend of greed? What right hast thou to take the hallowed name Of God upon thy lips, or Christ's, who came To save the race from sorrows thou dost cause? Not always helpless 'neath thy cruel paws, O Beast of Capital, shall Labor lie; Thy doom this day is thundered from the sky!
Arise, my soul, put off thy dark despair; Say not the age of chivalry is gone; For lo, the east is kindling with its dawn, And bugle echoes bid thee wake to wear Majestic moral armour, and to bear A worthy part in truth's eternal fray. Say not the muse inspires no more to-day, Nor that fame's flowers no longer flourish fair. Live thou sublimely and then speak thy heart, If thou wouldst build an altar unto art. Stand with the struggling and the stars above Will shower celestial thoughts to thrill thy pen. Put self away and walk alone with Love, And thou shalt be the marvel of all men!