"A Rattlesnake Sings in the Grass" is an unpublished, probably lost poem of Robert E. Howard's that expanded “Hymn of Hatred” from the Always Come Evening anthology. An 8-line passage that would have been placed between lines 8 and 9 of "Hymn" has never turned up.


Hymn of Hatred

Oh, brother coiling in the acrid grass,
Lift not for me your sibilant refrain:
Less deadly venom slavers from your fangs
Than courses fiercely in my every vein.


A single victim satisfied your hate,
But I would see walled cities crash and reel,
Gray-bearded sages blown from cannon-mouths,
And infants spitted on the reddened steel.


And I would see the stars come thundering down,
The foaming oceans break their brimming bowl –
Oh, universal ruin would not serve
To glut the fury of my maddened soul!

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