TO MELOS, POMEGRANATE ISLE.

By GRACE HARRIET MACURDY.

     (Destroyed by Athens, 416 B.C., because of her refusal to
     break neutrality.—­Thucydides V., 84-116; Euripides, “Trojan
     Women.”)

    O thou Pomegranate of the Sea,
      Sweet Melian isle, across the years
    Thy Belgian sister calls to thee
      In anguished sweat of blood and tears.

    Her fate like thine—­a ruthless band
      Hath ravaged all her loveliness. 
    How Athens spoiled thy prosperous land
      Athenian lips with shame confess.

    Thou, too, a land of lovely arts,
      Of potter’s and of sculptor’s skill—­
    Thy folk of high undaunted hearts
      As those that throb in Belgium still.

    Within thy harbor’s circling rim
      The warships long, with banners bright,
    Sailed bearing Athens’ message grim—­
      “God hates the weak.  Respect our Might.”

    The flame within thy fanes grew cold,
      Stilled by the foeman’s swarming hordes. 
    Thy sons were slain, thy daughters sold
      To serve the lusts of stranger lords.

    For Attic might thou didst defy
      Thy folk the foeman slew as sheep,
    Across the years hear Belgium’s cry—­
      “O Sister, of the Wine-Dark Deep,

    “Whose cliffs gleam seaward roseate. 
      Not one of all my martyr roll
    But keeps his faith inviolate,
      Man kills our body, not our soul.”

What America Can Do

By Lord Channing of Wellingborough.

Lord Channing, who makes the following suggestion to American statesmen, was born in the United States of the well-known Channings of Boston.  His father was the Rev. W.H.  Channing, Chaplain of the House of Representatives during the civil war and a close friend of President Lincoln.  Lord Channing has been for twenty-five years a member of the British Parliament, and for the last three years a member of the House of Lords, having been created first Baron of Wellingborough in 1912.  He is President of the British National Peace Congress.

To the Editor of The New York Times: 

As a member of the British Legislature for a generation, and a lifelong Liberal, and having also the closest ties of blood with America, and a proud reverence for her ideals, I would wish, with the utmost respect, to offer some comments on one specific aspect of present affairs, as they affect America, which does not seem to have been marked off with the distinctness its importance calls for.

This is the greatest crisis in the history of the world, and attention concentrates itself on the attitude of the greatest neutral State.

It is unthinkable that America can divest herself of responsibility for the final outcome.  This seems as clearly recognized in America as in Europe.