Vii

Two other words contrasting well distil In two clear drops of sound significant, And flavoured to the thought, the crowning want That mars our enterprise--the English will, Steadfast of purpose, but unsteady still In the particular. Strange humours haunt The earnestness of battle, and we flaunt The eccentric in us even as we kill. A nobly erring pride is here, disdain Of death--and duty, when that duty chimes Not with our liking; and our stubbornness Wants sternness in it to perfect the grain. Of late to tragic heights the contrast climbs, Which “Ernst” and “Eigensinnigkeit” express.

HESEPE, 5th July