W.B.Yeats - THE SAINT AND THE HUNCHBACK

The Wild Swans at Coole

THE SAINT AND THE HUNCHBACK

i{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.

i{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
Greek Alexander from my flesh,
Augustus Caesar, and after these
That great rogue Alcibiades.

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