Classic Poem

Little did I dream or fancy
I should ever (God forgive me!)
State the Case for the Defendant
Whom I loath'd with all my soul!

From a race of cattle stealers,
Rievers of the clan Buchanan,
I, Buchanan, sprang — the riever's
Savage blood is in my veins;

Thieves and wolves we were, but never
Foxes, and our Celtic motto
Reads in Roman lingo — " Magnest
Veritas et prevalebit!"

Tell the truth and shame the Devil!
Tell it, even tho' it praise him!
Tell the truth for the Defendant,
Tho' the Accuser be thy God!

Better still — let the Defendant
Plead his Case in his own person:
Tho' it means thine own damnation
Let the awful truth prevail! ...

Yet, alas! that happy Eden!
All the golden, gladsome Garden!
God the Father smiling on us,
Raining gentle blessings down!

Eve, that ne'er shalt be a mother,
Wrap thy sleeping shroud about thee!
All is over, all is over, —
But the Devil was not to blame!