Titan of Flanders, whose brain is a tocsin of gold and whose breath is the clamor of tempests,
Vulcan of the tears and the sobs of “Les Soirs” and the pæans and shouts of “Les Forces Tumultueuses,”
Dionysiac avatar of the mystical-sensuous soul of old Belgium,
Forge in the flames of Aerschot and Louvain the Song of Vengeance and Victory.
Moulder of lightnings and thunders, architect of the crashing and withering thought.
Seest thou not on the roofs of Antwerp and Brussels the great scarlet buzzards, the wingèd colossi from over the Rhine?
Emile Verhaeren! Out from the Pantheon down by the Seine waters the voice of the Titan of “Les Châtiments” is calling—
Is calling to thee to forge in the flames of Aerschot and Louvain the Song of Vengeance and Victory!
Benjamin De Casseres.
Source: The Sun, 21 Nov. 1915, Section 6, p. 11