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The Evil under the Sun.

HOW long, oh Lord?--The voice is sounding still,

Not only heard beneath the altar stone,
Not heard of John Evangelist alone

In Patmos. It doth cry aloud and will
Between the earth's end and earth's end, until

The day of the great reckoning, bone for bone,
And blood for righteous blood, and groan for groan:

Then shall it cease on the air with a sudden thrill;
Not slowly growing fainter if the rod

Strikes one or two amid the evil throng,
Or one oppressor's hand is stayed and numbs,--
Not till the vengeance that is coming comes:

For shall all hear the voice excepting God?

Or God not listen, hearing?--Lord, how long?

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Last modified: 26 March 1996