| Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936). Verse: 1885–1918. 1922. | | | | The Covenant |
| | 1914
WE thought we ranked above the chance of ill. | |
| Others might fall, not we, for we were wise— | |
| Merchants in freedom. So, of our free-will | |
| We let our servants drug our strength with lies. | |
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| The pleasure and the poison had its way | 5 |
| On us as on the meanest, till we learned | |
| That he who lies will steal, who steals will slay. | |
| Neither God’s judgment nor man’s heart was turned. | |
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| Yet there remains His Mercy—to be sought | |
| Through wrath and peril till we cleanse the wrong | 10 |
| By that last right which our forefathers claimed | |
| When their Law failed them and its stewards were bought. | |
| This is our cause. God help us, and make strong | |
| Our will to meet Him later, unashamed! | | | | |
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