On land and wave my flag unfurl’d

Streamed like a storm above the world;

For Lorro was a soldier born;

His music was the battle-horn.

E’en when a boy—his playthings were

Such deadly toys as sword and spear.

I did not pant for fame or blood,

But thus in agony I sought

To strangle in their birth the brood

Of serpents cradled in my thought.