Montgomery Hare. A Plainsong. [cover 
 For in Me, Now I Swear It, Lincoln 
 Shall Never Be Forgotten] (1940) 
 
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 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 LIBRARY 
 
For In Me, 
 Now I Swear It, 
 Lincoln Shall Never 
 Be Forgotten 
 
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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 
 
 http://archive.org/details/plainsongOOhare 
 
As the unwilling, billing sunfloiver 
 
 to the sun, 
 The impatient, patient cereus 
 
 with the night, 
 Not to the many that I might 
 But to the One I must. 
 Those poems that I have roriltcn. 
 This poem, 
 Those poems that I have yet 
 
 to iv rite. 
 
^foreword 
 
 I have chosen to publish this poem by itself pri- 
 marily because of its peculiar form which I call, for 
 lack of a better word, a plainsong. It suggests that it 
 should be sung, not only by the poet but, as is my 
 hope, by many others alone or in company, being 
 theirs as much as mine. 
 
 Because it is such a plainsong, its inclusion with 
 other poems of a different type, the reflective or 
 "globed fruit" type (to borrow from MacLeish) 
 would invite the reader at first so to consider it, 
 impersonal, descriptive, when it is really personal, 
 inscriptive. 
 
 To make this difference clearer, I would compare 
 the reflective poem to a kiss between friends; this 
 poem, at least in its endeavour, to the kiss of lovers, 
 exhortative, demanding, and by the giver naturally 
 not to be included with the friendly kiss, however 
 sincere both may be, however, finally, both are the 
 same. 
 
I have not included other such exhortative poems 
 with it, because more than one at a time tends to con- 
 fuse the issue, to make the reader look in one poem 
 for easy explanations of the other ; too, tends to over- 
 burden the reader, exactly as more than one exhorta- 
 tive kiss tends to make the receiver suspicious of them 
 all, to doubt the constancy of the affection, to forget 
 the real issue at stake. 
 
 Also, a reader is able to skip from one poem to 
 another, and given the slightest chance will do so, 
 unlike the listener to music who to a much greater 
 degree is forced to listen to one piece through to its 
 end. Therefore, this one poem, one volume, might be 
 likened to a recording of one piece of music in one 
 volume, focussing attention upon itself; later pos- 
 sibly to be included with other recordings on one 
 shelf, but not now upon first publication. For I 
 would rather not have such a poem read at all, than 
 skipped; at least until the reader by familiarity with 
 it is rightfully in position to return to parts of it for 
 special consideration. 
 
 I have published it separately as well because I 
 believe that those persons, wihom I most wish to read 
 it, will be more willing today to risk a quarter for a 
 little poetry, always suspect, than two dollars for a 
 lot, as a boy acquires a taste for oysters, olives, by 
 chancing one at first, then two, etc., not twenty the 
 first time. And for this reason also I have tried to 
 publish it in an easily pocketed, digested form. 
 
Since I have only slight means of artificial distri- 
 bution, the distribution of this poem depends upon 
 its readers, even as the light in the sky at morning 
 depends upon the particles of dust which one upon 
 another review the fire; indeed, as there would be 
 no night either (I do not deny it nor do I wish it 
 otherwise, to be always on the brighter side) but 
 for the only judgment of the dust. 
 
COPYRIGHT 1940 
 
 MONTGOMERY HARE 
 
 ADDRESS ANY INQUIRY 
 
 MONTGOMERY HARE 
 ST. JAMES, L. I., N. Y. 
 
a pui 
 
 ainson 
 
 s 
 
 or* 
 
 By 
 Montgomery Hare 
 

 For In Me, 
 Now I Swear It, 
 Lincoln Shall Never 
 Be Forgotten 
 
 I am neither a pacifist nor am I a patriot, 
 This my preface. Say what you will, I shall 
 Delight to listen to you; do what you wish, 
 Even that only, and gladly I will be among 
 The first to remark upon your deeds. More, 
 
 I shall 
 Find these my duty. Yet I think there is nothing 
 You can ever say or do which will convince me 
 That there can come an end to fighting, or that 
 My country knows another boundry than 
 
 the night. 
 Wait! But let me report to you, 
 
 for in me, 
 Noiv I swear it, Lincoln shall never 
 
 be forgotten, 
 What I have read there where it is written in 
 
 sad lines 
 Upon bronze and marble both, not escaping the 
 
 (Poorest sculptor) 
 
A PLAINSONG 
 
 Poorest sculptor, not separate from the most 
 
 flattering 
 Bust, but appearing like a fine net thrown 
 
 over it: 
 "Too well I know it takes more than a million 
 "Killings to beget one Christ ..." Wait, wait! 
 
 But sopping 
 That sorrow up, let me repeat to you, 
 
 for in me, 
 Now I swear it, Lincoln shall never 
 
 be forgotten, 
 What also I have seen there springing out of 
 That clouded visage in happy contradiction 
 As the constant wind seemingly comes out of 
 
 nowhere 
 To remove the clouds obscuring Heaven from 
 Earth, and which I would not have you fail 
 To remember: "As God is my Father, 
 
 boundless His mercy, 
 "That so shall someday my country be and 
 
 without 
 "A border, only let me begin it ... " Mind you, 
 Never once doubting that it should become so, 
 
 though 
 Most great and terrible was the task which 
 
 confronted him. 
 No, indeed! Say what you will, do what you 
 
 will; though 
 Always I shall listen to you, often 
 Accompanying you upon your way, 
 
A PLAINSONG 
 
 I am neither a pacifist nor am I a patriot; 
 This my preface, be I cursed or acclaimed for it! 
 Which I serve as a warning, 
 
 for in me, 
 Notv I swear it, Lincoln shall never 
 
 be forgotten, 
 Both upon my enemy to maintain 
 A stout defense or immediately release 
 His slaves; and for freedom's sake as well but 
 
 without 
 An enemy, shouting it from my own housetop, 
 
 indeed, 
 Proclaiming it, unafraid, in the most 
 
 foreign place. 
 
 Oh! but believe me, this is no bone which I 
 
 throw to you, 
 Holding its meaning, its marrow back till it's 
 
 worked on and 
 Worried over, till it's chewed to bits! Neither 
 Is it by prayer alone to be come on nor by 
 Fasting as the maze which the hungry mouse 
 
 only 
 
 May hunt in despair through to its end; but 
 
 evident 
 To any person without pass or favour as well as 
 To the poet, the philosopher; to the 
 
 (Well-fed as well) 
 
A PLAINSONG 
 
 Well-fed as well as the most famishing; found 
 Wherever the grass grows; simple fare, 
 
 maybe, but 
 Providing the jaded appetite for once with 
 Other than sauces; if not intravenous already, 
 A stimulating tonic then; as it is sweet, 
 Oh sweet! to the tempered tooth, just the same 
 
 satisfying. 
 For even as I have seen everywhere, in the 
 
 garden, 
 In the fields too surrounding it, in the forest 
 About them, all that was ever sought by 
 
 war; truly 
 A wider territory than ever was gained so, 
 A greater triumph than ever was celebrated 
 In song or story, real or legendary, 
 A greater victory against the forces of 
 Evil than ever was fought for and won or was 
 
 looked for 
 And lost, the most of all of such glories and 
 
 more 
 Free to any man's hand; so, I cannot deny it, 
 
 there 
 In wars waged as fiercely as any of men I have 
 
 found 
 In those very places all that was ever feared 
 From wars, the same great waste, the 
 
 same seeming-senseless 
 Destruction, the death without quarter given, 
 
 the torture; 
 
A PLAINSONG 
 
 Yes, of course, hating them! I admit it. Yet 
 As long as Beauty is there and not elsewhere, 
 
 like a 
 Veil upon Heaven's face we are permitted to 
 Touch though never to tear (no, as the least 
 (Not the greatest even of us, but Time shall 
 
 draw it 
 (Away if we wait long enough) there in that 
 
 garden, 
 In those fields, too, in that forest, will I make 
 My residence, however I may not 
 Avoid some struggle to keep clear the littlest 
 Living space. And there and there only where 
 
 Beauty, 
 Even as the foliage, falls about faithful 
 Shoulders, their shawl, in that garden, in those 
 
 fields, 
 Too in that forest, by my own choice I shall 
 Remain, indeed, pledged to sing their 
 
 praises with all 
 My voice until my last painful breath, 
 
 to defend them 
 With all my heart until the final, savage 
 Grace. Let who will inhabit the hermit's cave, 
 
 not I. 
 Leave his pit to the crazy man, for the wild man 
 His desert! Yes, and there where Beauty, the 
 
 flag of 
 That country, at the last drapes the 
 
 good soldier over, 
 
 (His most honoring) 
 
A PLAINSONG 
 
 His most honoring pall; by that standard only, 
 Saluting no other, shall I find strength. There, 
 And not elsewhere but beneath it, shall I seek 
 
 refuge! 
 Oh, but too believe me, for even as I have 
 
 stood 
 Many times before morning upon a 
 
 mountain-top 
 And have rediscovered, exultantly, joyfully, 
 As at the hands of the Dawn again given to me 
 Out of the East and to my heirs forever, 
 First the little plot of land where I have 
 Planted me, next then the surrounding hills 
 As if for me alone to name — but Beauty 
 — And, of course, the Beast; the Brothers, there — 
 Then following below them the valley with 
 Perhaps a river flowing into it, and so 
 By appertaining right of where the river 
 Winds (oh, I could guess) now title to it 
 All, beyond the furthest ridge, into 
 The smallest, dearest, hidden hummer's nest; 
 So also at evening from the same mountain-top 
 As often I have watched all of it taken 
 From me into the West, now first the river 
 With its appertaining right, the valley 
 Next from me to nothing but a shadow 
 Given, the hills about me then, and finally 
 Even the piece where I have stood is gone 
 Into the night with all the rest. Oh, but 
 
A PLAINSONG 
 
 Believe me, then the countless times returning 
 Home I have not been keen to quip or jest 
 For thinking how that sleep which death 
 
 drugs on 
 Is our but one, inalienable right; 
 Our only real estate but God's warm breast, 
 Girt to protect us with deeper hills about 
 Than any mountain-range and broader than 
 The broadest plain; it's true, more fertile far 
 Than any valley, for thirsty sunlit meadows 
 With shady woods, too, and many a 
 
 quenching stream, 
 Yet not by any man alone to be possessed. 
 
 No, certainly! Whether it is my destiny 
 
 To be as one shipwrecked, forsaken, but the 
 
 lord of a 
 Small island, taught there how to be patient by 
 
 beaches 
 Passive before the onslaught of the prognathous 
 Seas, shown up, too, indefensible beneath the 
 Heavy heel of the sky; or already in 
 
 crystal ball fated 
 To be as the prince of a great people, an empire, 
 Surrounded by vassal states only, forcing 
 
 even the 
 Waters to be so, with palaces shoving the 
 
 sky back, 
 
 (Later a tomb) 
 
A PLAINSONG 
 
 Later a tomb so, unassailable; no matter! 
 
 I am neither a pacifist nor am I a patriot, 
 
 This remaining my preface. Do not forget it . . ! 
 
 Now, oh qive witness my performance! No! Nor 
 Am I a priest either but without a God! 
 Whether permitted to hope still or delivered 
 Wholly over to despair, this my paradox! 
 Oh, but believe me, neither is this any uncertain 
 Paradox nor newly discovered which I 
 Give to you to be split at the flaws in it, as a 
 
 rough 
 Diamond again and again till it's all gone, 
 
 till it's 
 Worthless; but if many-faceted, yet found 
 
 perfect, 
 Already well-polished, adamant, resisting the 
 Cleverest tool of the most conscientious 
 Craftsman, turning back the best efforts each to 
 Share in it of the most heartless thieves; 
 Nor even is it the boxed, secret item, unseen, 
 Unbelievable, of one jealous collector, but to 
 
 all known 
 As the garnet-turning-sapphire, the moon, is 
 
 known, 
 The brightest, the biggest, stone that is 
 
 lodged in the night; 
 But a ruby marking the realm of the rajah who 
 
 wears it 
 
A PLAINSONG 
 
 To be by divine right, if lost to him, worth him 
 His realm to ransom it; but a crown's glory, a 
 
 virtual 
 Kohinoor, becoming to any king; an all-jewel 
 Gibraltar defending the pass to an empire, 
 
 taking a 
 Great toll, indeed, at the gate of it, not lightly to 
 Be passed by by the most heavily armored 
 Eye, but commanding the lids to bow 
 
 down to it, 
 The heart and the mind and the soul, too, 
 
 to make it obeisance. 
 Oh, but too believe me, nor is it, 
 
 though the most 
 Precious, so rare a gem that it may be found 
 
 only 
 Once in a million years or in less, a century, 
 To be placed in a museum then and 
 
 mocked by the 
 Number who never come back to it; but, oh! and 
 
 be not 
 Mistaken, handy to all, to the blind as 
 
 well as to the 
 Sharpest-eyed, to the stay-at-home as 
 
 well as to the 
 Wayward prospector, to rich end to poor alike, 
 
 where its 
 Bold azure lies midst the dross and the slag of 
 
 experience; 
 
 (As the metal) 
 
10 A PLAINSONG 
 
 As the metal is there, too, you will 
 want, would you set it ! 
 
 Wait! But let rne report it to you, 
 
 for in me, 
 Now I stvear it, Lincoln shall never 
 
 be forgotten, 
 Just as I learnt it there where it was taught me, 
 
 if as by 
 Frozen hands, by hands holding nonetheless 
 
 firmly to 
 Truth: "As neither beast nor flower, I think, 
 "Nor any man nor even your Father in Heaven 
 "Was born in one day but out of many days, 
 "So not by one day set aside or by 
 "Another shall you endeavour to celebrate 
 "Anyone of them, but every day and all 
 "Together you must try to remember them ..." 
 
 Wait, wait! 
 But lest you should try to escape yet, blocking 
 
 off even 
 All ways as the bullet denies to the started 
 Buck whatever his choice, the woods or the 
 
 fields, both, 
 Let me also repeat to you, 
 
 for in me, 
 Now I swear it, Lincoln shall never 
 be forgotten, 
 
A PLAINSONG 11 
 
 What still further I heard there, if as from stony, 
 Silent lips unspoken, nonetheless forcefully 
 
 spoken: 
 "But do not hasten, do not hurry, for Haste is the 
 "Hope and Hurry the way of the fearful; and 
 
 oh what 
 "Horror! for I have seen it, is the product of 
 
 both 
 And yet wait, please, a minute I beg of you, 
 
 till I 
 Tell you what I heard there at last, if delivered 
 Wonderfully with unshed tears, nonetheless 
 
 sadly, 
 If reflected in blind staring eyes, in eyes now 
 Seeing as for the first time and nonetheless 
 
 clearly, 
 And which most of all I would not have you 
 
 forget: 
 "For to do otherwise is to exert 
 "A tyranny upon God, let not you nor any 
 "Man decide for another which road is his 
 
 destiny's 
 "Own, I pray you, but let him decide it 
 "As best he can, unaware of the travails 
 
 attaching 
 "The journey; that the blame at the end may be 
 
 his 
 "As the reward shall be, yes, even as 
 "The great shame with the glory, both, that I 
 
 bear." 
 
 (L'envoi) 
 
12 A PLAINSONG 
 
 Uenvoi 
 
 And so once more, then no more after, 
 
 as together 
 The first, the loudest, stroke of a church bell 
 
 with 
 The final, the best, sound its worshipful warning 
 
 forever 
 Enough through long away whither its 
 
 echos, we guess. 
 Into silence too its toller is gone and the 
 
 rope hangs 
 Deserted and still, let me repeat to you these 
 My own words, already several times spoken, I 
 
 know, 
 But daring them this time, with the courage and 
 
 strength 
 God alone in His infinite mercy has seen fit to 
 
 lend me, 
 For a first time as well as a last time, both. 
 Seeing clearly in all things where I did not 
 
 before; 
 And for this reason only — or never was 
 
 vow sealed with kiss 
 — But was over-sealed, never pact for peace 
 
 pledged upon paper 
 — But was over-pledged, never request 
 
 enjoined with 
 
A PLAINSONG 13 
 
 — A prayer but was over-enjoined, never 
 
 oath even sworn to in 
 — Blood but one drop spilt too much! — lest 
 
 you should forget them, 
 When as if witnessed by your eyes and 
 
 signed with your name, 
 Even written by your hand, yet they may be 
 Yours, too, never forgetting them, 
 
 for in me, 
 Now I swear it, Lincoln shall never 
 be forgotten. 
 
 FINIS