The women moulding painfully a fresh

Excuse for pliant treacheries of flesh;

The men who raise the tin sword of a creed,

Convinced that it can kill the lunge of greed;

The thieves whose poisoned vanity purloins

A fancied victory from ringing coins;

The staidly bloated men whose minds have sold

Their quickness to an old, metallic Scold;

The neatly cultured men whose hopes and fears

Dwell in soft prisons honored by past years;