26 JULY 1940, Page 11

POEM

IT would be strange

If at a crucial question, in wild-beast dens Or cellars sweating with pain the stammerers Should find their confidence.

It would be strange If the haphazard starling learned a neat Construction from the goldcrest and the black-cap's Seamless song in a night.

It would be strange If from the consternation of the ant-hill Arose some order angelic, ranked for loving, Equal to good or ill.

It would be more than strange If the devil we raised to avenge our envy, grief, Weakness, should take our hand like a prince and raise us And say, "I forgive."

C. DAY LEWIS.