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THE TERMS, by                    
First Line: If seeing all the fiends rebel
Last Line: I'll venture with you.


IF seeing all the fiends rebel
won't smite you with fear,
And every dignitary crushed
tradition holds dear;
And every pillar of the heavens
cloven in two;
-- Then I shall calmly sing my song
while sitting with you.

And if you hate the tyrant
who would shackle your feet
And all your homage claims to make
his victory complete,
While buying praise from cringing slaves
who fawn at his shoe,
-- Then I shall proudly join in that
hatred with you.

And if you love the prisoner
whose courage remains,
Who will not kneel and kiss the hand
that placed him in chains,
But dauntless, till the final judgment
carries them through,
-- Sincerely, with my heart and soul,
I'll love him with you.

And if you wish the secret lore
of nature to read,
Approaching it in meekness
like a child in its need,
Accepting nothing twisted
through another man's view,
-- Then humbly I'll begin at the beginning
with you.

And if you dare to sail midst crushing
ice-floes at play
-- With no eternal safety bonds
insuring your day --
But speed the vessel bravely
with these perils in view,
-- Then gladly all the Seven Seas
I'll voyage with you.

And when the final night of nights descends
on the shore,
And inky waves envelop us,
and land is no more --
If, when we drift, you grasp the helm,
with firm hand and true,
Content, upon that unknown deep,
I'll venture with you.





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