Classic Poem

We have given our hearts to the Beast, for the Beast to share,
The stealthy-footed patrol of the city street.
Custom his name, and tame all his ways and sweet,
Though blood yet drips on the chartered pavement fair.
Not as the conquered, flinging to ancient air
Hearts more free than their fiery winding-sheet,
We have given our hearts to the Beast, for the Beast to share,
The stealthy-footed patrol of the city street.
Long his hunger as an avenging prayer,
While we, crying out where the midnights meet,
Mark the pacing of those majestic feet
With the recurrence of never-evaded care.
We have given our hearts to the Beast, for the Beast to share.