Of the prodigy and crime,
When they killed him in his pity,
When they killed him in his prime. . . .
. . . They killed him in his kindness,
In their madness in their blindness,
And they killed him from behind. . . .
He lieth in his blood—
The Father in his face;
They have killed him, the forgiver—
The Avenger takes his place. . . .
There is sobbing of the strong,
And a pall upon the land;
But the People in their weeping
Bare the iron hand:
Beware the People weeping
When they bare the iron hand.
—Herman Melville