WHY STRIK’ST THOU ME?

Why dost thou strike me?—Ever faithful
In service to thee do I live;
And often when thou wert in peril
My very utmost would I give;
My life I would lay down for thee!
Why strik’st thou me?

In blustering storm and cruel Winter,
In murky night or through the day,
Obedient I have trotted by thee
And guarded thee along the way.
I’ve watched thee and protected thee:
Why strik’st thou me?

When flashed the robber’s steel against thee,
When thou wert threatened by his arm,
And thou didst call for aid and rescue,
Who saved thee then from mortal harm?
My blood flowed on the sand for thee:
Why strik’st thou me?

When down the sheer walls of the chasm
That glooms the torrent thou didst slide,
Thou there had perished maimed and helpless
Had I not sought thee far and wide.
Myself forgetting, sought I thee:
Why strik’st thou me?

When on the furious billows drifting
Thou heldest up a beckoning hand,
And no man dared attempt to save thee,
I brought thee safely to the land.
From certain death I rescued thee:
Why strik’st thou me?

Oh doom me not to starve and perish;
The poor old Sultan do not slay!
For thee, too, will the days soon darken
In which thy strength will fade away.
Then thou wilt beg as I beg thee:—
Why strik’st thou me?

Nathan Haskell Dole (Translator).
As published in “The Dog’s Book of Verse” Collected by J. Earl Clauson
A Public Domain Work.