The Ballad of the Lusitania Babes By Emerson Hough

THE HOLY THREE BEHOLD¹

God the Father leaned out from Heaven,

His white beard swept His knee;

His eye was sad as He looked far out,

Full on the face of the sea.

Saith God the Father, "In My Kingdom

Never was thing like this;

For yonder are sinless unredeemed,

And they may not enter Our bliss³."

And Mary the Mother, She stood near by,

Her eyes full sad and grieved.

Saith Mary the Mother, "Alas⁴! Alas!

That they may not be received.

Now never since Heaven began," saith She,

"Hath sight like this meseemed,

That there be sinless dead below

Who may not be redeemed²!"

And Jesu, the Saviour⁵, He stood also,

And aye! His eyes were wet.

Saith Jesu the Saviour, "Since Time began,

Never was this thing yet!

For these be the Children, the Little Ones,

Afloat on the icy sea.

They are doomed⁶, they are dead, they are perished,

And they may not come unto Me!"

THE CHILDREN CRY OUT

They float, forever unburied,

Their faces turned to the sky;

With their little hands uplifted,

And their lips forever cry:

"Oh, we are the helpless murdered ones,

Blown far on the icy tide!

No sin was ours, but through all the days,

On the northern seas we ride.

No cerements ever enshroud us,

We know no roof of the sod;

We float forever unburied,

With our faces turned to God.

"So foul⁷ the deed that undid⁸ us,

So damned in its dull disgrace,

That even the sea refused us,

And would not give us place.

Nor ever a place in the sky—

We are lost, we are dead, we are perished,

Ah, Jesu, tell us why!"

* * * * *

Now the Three who heard They wept as one,

But Their tears they might not cease.

Saith God the Father, "While unavenged

These may not know Our peace!

When the sons of men are men again,

And have smitten¹⁰ full with the sword,

At last these sinless but unredeemed

Shall enter unto their Lord.

"But deed like this is a common debt;

It lies on the earth-race whole.

Till these be avenged⁹ they be unredeemed—

Each piteous infant soul.

We must weep, We must weep, till the debt be paid,

Te debt of the sons of men—

But well avenged, they are aye redeemed;

Ah, how shall We welcome them then!"

THE SONS OF MEN HEARKEN

Are ye worth the kiss of a woman?

Were ye worth the roof of a womb?

Are ye worth the price of your grave-clothes?

Are ye worth the name on a tomb?

Nay¹¹! None of these is your earning,

And none of these be your meed,

If the deathless wail¹² of their yearning¹³

Shall add to your pulse no speed.

Never by hand of a warrior¹⁴,

Never by act of a man,

Have the Little Ones thus perished,

Since ever that Heaven began.

Such deed and the beings who wrought¹⁵ it—

Ah! deep must the cutting go

To cure the world of the memory

Of the Little Ones in woe¹⁶.

The Three watch high in Their Heaven,

And aye! the Three be grieved;

The sword is the key of Their Heaven,

If the babes shall be received.

Rise then, men of our banner—

Speak in our ancient tone—

Each of you for his mother,

Each of you for his own!

Smite¹⁷ full and fell and fearless,

Till that these be set free—

These, slain¹⁸ of the foulest¹⁹ slaying²⁰

That ever made red the sea.

The sword of the Great Avenger²¹

Is now for the sons of men;

It must redden in errand holy

Till the babes be cradled again.

Copyrighted, 1917, by Emerson Hough

1 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

2 redeemed   

adj. 可赎回的，可救赎的 动词redeem的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She has redeemed her pawned jewellery. 她赎回了当掉的珠宝。
• He redeemed his watch from the pawnbroker's. 他从当铺赎回手表。

3 bliss   

n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福

参考例句：

• It's sheer bliss to be able to spend the day in bed.整天都可以躺在床上真是幸福。
• He's in bliss that he's won the Nobel Prize.他非常高兴，因为获得了诺贝尔奖金。

4 alas   

int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)

参考例句：

• Alas!The window is broken!哎呀！窗子破了！
• Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而，真理很少带有浪漫色彩。

5 saviour   

n.拯救者，救星

参考例句：

• I saw myself as the saviour of my country.我幻想自己为国家的救星。
• The people clearly saw her as their saviour.人们显然把她看成了救星。

6 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

7 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

8 Undid   

v. 解开, 复原

参考例句：

• The officer undid the flap of his holster and drew his gun. 军官打开枪套盖拔出了手枪。
• He did wrong, and in the end his wrongs undid him. 行恶者终以其恶毁其身。

9 avenged   

v.为…复仇，报…之仇( avenge的过去式和过去分词 )；为…报复

参考例句：

• She avenged her mother's death upon the Nazi soldiers. 她惩处了纳粹士兵以报杀母之仇。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Indians avenged the burning of their village on〔upon〕 the settlers. 印第安人因为村庄被焚毁向拓居者们进行报复。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 smitten   

猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去分词 )

参考例句：

• From the moment they met, he was completely smitten by her. 从一见面的那一刻起，他就完全被她迷住了。
• It was easy to see why she was smitten with him. 她很容易看出为何她为他倾倒。

11 nay   

adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者

参考例句：

• He was grateful for and proud of his son's remarkable,nay,unique performance.他为儿子出色的，不，应该是独一无二的表演心怀感激和骄傲。
• Long essays,nay,whole books have been written on this.许多长篇大论的文章，不，应该说是整部整部的书都是关于这件事的。

12 wail   

vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸

参考例句：

• Somewhere in the audience an old woman's voice began plaintive wail.观众席里，一位老太太伤心地哭起来。
• One of the small children began to wail with terror.小孩中的一个吓得大哭起来。

13 yearning   

a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的

参考例句：

• a yearning for a quiet life 对宁静生活的向往
• He felt a great yearning after his old job. 他对过去的工作有一种强烈的渴想。

14 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

15 wrought   

v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的

参考例句：

• Events in Paris wrought a change in British opinion towards France and Germany.巴黎发生的事件改变了英国对法国和德国的看法。
• It's a walking stick with a gold head wrought in the form of a flower.那是一个金质花形包头的拐杖。

16 woe   

n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌

参考例句：

• Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。
• A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸，自认福是福。

17 smite   

v.重击；彻底击败；n.打；尝试；一点儿

参考例句：

• The wise know how to teach,the fool how to smite.智者知道如何教导，愚者知道怎样破坏。
• God will smite our enemies.上帝将击溃我们的敌人。

18 slain   

杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词)

参考例句：

• The soldiers slain in the battle were burried that night. 在那天夜晚埋葬了在战斗中牺牲了的战士。
• His boy was dead, slain by the hand of the false Amulius. 他的儿子被奸诈的阿缪利乌斯杀死了。

19 foulest   

adj.恶劣的( foul的最高级 )；邪恶的；难闻的；下流的

参考例句：

• Most of the foremen abused the workmen in the foulest languages. 大多数的工头用极其污秽的语言辱骂工人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Of all men the drunkard is the foulest. 男人中最讨人厌的是酒鬼。 来自辞典例句

20 slaying   

杀戮。

参考例句：

• The man mimed the slaying of an enemy. 此人比手划脚地表演砍死一个敌人的情况。
• He is suspected of having been an accomplice in the slaying,butthey can't pin it on him. 他有嫌疑曾参与该杀人案，但他们找不到证据来指控他。

21 avenger   

n. 复仇者

参考例句：

• "Tom Sawyer, the Black Avenger of the Spanish Main. “我乃西班牙海黑衣侠盗，汤姆 - 索亚。
• Avenger's Shield-0.26 threat per hit (0.008 threat per second) 飞盾-0.26仇恨每击（0.08仇恨每秒）