Songs of an idle hour Author:William J. Coughlin Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: "Doubting-Thomas, child-man, you would see the wound and feel the red-lipped scar, — Hear the cannon's roar before you 'Id wake from dream of peace to s... more »ense of war." " If the strength thou hast be man-strength, battle greed by hand, and pen, and speech, Till the laboring millions feel no fruit hath growth beyond their labor's reach." " Till no toiler genuflection makes, face-fronting Mammon's upstart horde, - Till no swart mechanic cringes in the gaze of him, my money lord." " Will you, dare you, strive thus ? or like others choose to head the Judas line ; Blame Bellarus not, he warns thee, in the embers reading right each sign." A TRAGEDY. [A Transcription from the Frcnch ACT I. JAN for a season his crimes may hide, And the vengeance of God may be laid aside; But in the end, in the criminal's path, The sentence deferred will descend in wrath; And if there be a crime on the face of earth, 'T is the crime that causes a life-long dearth, — A woman's seduction, and ruin, and shame, To mother, and rob of a wife's fair name. And the wretch proved guilty of such a crime Is a living reproach to our age and time; He should die at the hangman's hand, — he should die A death of disgrace and of agony. ACT II. Frederick Grere was a captain of horse In 'Forty-two, in the Belgian force, Stationed at Lille, where the captain met With a lady of culture and wealth, and set His devilish mind to ruin her life, And he came out best in the awful strife. His victim, exposed to the world's keen scorn, Abandoned her home one December morn, And never returned to her father's door, And kindred and friends saw her face no more. Bleak winters thirty filed slow behind, In which many a heart w...« less