20. The New Tenants

THE DAY was here when it was his to know

How fared the barriers he had built between

His triumph and his enemies unseen,

For them to undermine and overthrow;

And it was his no longer to forego

The sight of them, insidious and serene,

Where they were delving always and had been

Left always to be vicious and to grow.

And there were the new tenants who had come,

By doors that were left open unawares,

Into his house, and were so much at home

There now that he would hardly have to guess,

By the slow guile of their vindictiveness,

What ultimate insolence would soon be theirs.