37. Saint and the Hunchback, The. Yeats, W. B. 1919. The Wild Swans at Coole

W.B. Yeats (1865–1939). The Wild Swans at Coole. 1919.

37. The Saint and the Hunchback

Hunchback.	STAND up and lift your hand and bless
	A man that finds great bitterness
	In thinking of his lost renown.
	A Roman Caesar is held down
	Under this hump.	5

Saint.	God tries each man
	According to a different plan.
	I shall not cease to bless because
	I lay about me with the taws
	That night and morning I may thrash	10
	Greek Alexander from my flesh,
	Augustus Caesar, and after these
	That great rogue Alcibiades.

Hunchback.	To all that in your flesh have stood
	And blessed, I give my gratitude,	15
	Honoured by all in their degrees,
	But most to Alcibiades.