I |
|
XLVII |
As I lay asleep in Italy
There came a voice from over the Sea,
And with great power it forth led me
To walk in the visions of Poesy.
| |
'And at length when ye complain
With a murmur weak and vain
'Tis to see the Tyrant's crew
Rise over your wives and you -
Blood is on the grass like dew.'
| |
II
| |
XLVIII
| |
I met Murder on the way -
He had a mask like Castlereagh -
Very smooth he looked, yet grim;
Seven blood-hounds followed him:
| |
'Then it is to feel revenge
Fiercely thirsting to exchange
Blood for blood - and wrong for wrong -
Do thus when ye are strong.'
| |
III
| |
XLIX
| |
All were fat; and well they might
Be in admirable plight,
For one by one, and two by two,
He tossed them human hearts to chew
Which from his wide cloak he drew.
| |
'Birds find rest, in narrow nest
When weary of their winged quest;
Bets find fare, in woody lair
When storm and snow are in the air.'
| |
IV
| |
L
| |
Next cam Fraud, and he had on,
Like Eldon, an ermined gown;
His big tears, for he wept well,
Turned to mill-stones as they fell.
| |
'Asses, swine, have litter spread
And with fitting food are fed;
All things have a home but one -
Thou, Oh, Englishman, hast none!'
| |
V
| |
LI
| |
And the little children, who
Round his feet played to and fro,
Thinking every tear a gem,
Had their brains knocked out by them.
| |
'This is Slavery - savage men,
Or wild beasts within a den
Would endure not as ye do -
But such ills have never knew.'
| |
VI
| |
LII
| |
Clothed with the Bible, as with light,
And the shadows of the night,
Like Sidmouth, next, Hypocrisy
On a crocodile rode by.
| |
'What are thou Freedom? O! could slaves
Answer from their living graves
This demand - tyrants would flee
Like a dream's dim imagery:'
| |
VII
| |
LIII
| |
And many more Destructions played
In this ghastly masquerade,
All disguised, even to the eyes,
Like Bishops, lawyers, peers, or spies.
| |
'Thou art not, as imposters say,
A shadow soon to pass away,
A superstition, and a name
Echoing from the cave of Fame.'
| |
VIII
| |
LIV
| |
Last came Anarchy: he rode
On a white horse, splashed with blood;
He was pale even to the lips,
Like Death in the Apocalypse.
| |
'For the labourer thou art bread,
And a comely table spread
From his daily labour come
In a neat and happy home.'
| |
IX
| |
LV
| |
And he wore a kingly crown;
And in his grasp a sceptre shone;
On his brow this mark I saw -
'I AM GOD, AND KING, AND LAW!"
| |
'Thou art clothes, and fire, and food
For the trampled multitude -
No - in countries that are free
Such starvation cannot be
As in England now we see.'
| |
X
| |
LVI
| |
With a pace stately and fast,
Over English land he passed,
Trampling to a mire of blood
The adoring multitude.
| |
'To rich thou art a check,
When his foot is on the neck
Of his victum, thou dost make
That he treads upon a snake.'
| |
XI
| |
LVII
| |
And a mighty troop around,
With their trampling shook the ground,
Waving each a bloody sword,
For the service of their Lord.
| |
'Thou are Justice - ne-er for gold
May thy righteous laws be sold
As laws are in England - thou
Sheld'st alike the high and low.'
| |
XII
| |
LVIII
| |
And with glorious triumph, they
Rode through England proud and gay,
Drunk as with intoxication
Of the wine of desolation.
| |
'Thou art Wisdom - Freemen never
Dream that God will damn for ever
All who think those things untrue
Of which Priests make such ado.'
| |
XIII
| |
LIX
| |
O'er fields and towns, from sea to sea,
Passed the Pageant swift and free,
Tearing up, and trampling down;
Till they came to London town.
| |
'Thou art Peace - never by thee
Would blood and treasure wasted be
As tyrants wasted them, when all
Leagued to quench thy flame in Gaul.'
| |
XIV
| |
LX
| |
And each dweller, panic-stricken,
Felt his heart with terror sicken
Hearing the tempestuous cry
Of the triumph of Anarchy.
| |
'What if English toil and blood
Was poured forth, even as a flood?
It availed, Oh, Liberty,
To dim, but not extinguish thee.'
| |
XV
| |
LXI
| |
For with pomp to meet him came,
Clothed in arms like blood and flame,
The hired murderers, who did sing
'Thou are God, and Law, and King.'
| |
'Thou art Love - the rich have kissed
Thy feet, and like him following Christ,
Give their substance to the free
And through the rough world follow thee,'
| |
XVI
| |
LXII
| |
We have waited, weak and lone
For thy coming, Mighty One!
Our purses are empty, our swords are cold.
Give us glory, and blood, and gold.'
| |
'Or turn their wealth to arms, and make
War for thy beloved sake
On wealth, and war, and fraud - whence they
Drew the power which is their prey.'
| |
XVII
| |
LXIII
| |
Lawyers and priests, a motley crowd,
To the earth their pale brows bowed,
Like a bad prayer not over loud,
Whispering - 'Thou art Law and God.' -
| |
'Science, Poetry, and Thought
Are thy lamps; they make the lot
Of the dwellers in a cot
So serene, they curse it not.'
| |
XVIII
| |
LXIV
| |
Then all cried with one accord,
'Thou art King, and God, and Lord;
Anarchy, to thee we bow,
Be thy name made holy now!'
| |
'Spirit, Patience, Gentleness,
All that can adorn and bless
Art thou - let deeds, not words, express
Thine exeeding loveliness.'
| |
XIX
| |
LXV
| |
And Anarchy, the skeleton,
Bowed and grinned to every one,
As well as if his education
Had cost ten millions to the nation.
| |
'Let a great Assembly be
Of the fearless and the free
On some spot of Engligh ground
Where the plains stretch wide around.'
| |
XX
| |
LXVI
| |
For he knew the Palaces
Of our Kings were rightly his;
His the sceptre, crown, and globe,
And the gold-inwoven in robe.
| |
'Let the blue sky overhead,
The green earth on which ye tread,
All that must eternal be
Witness the solemnity.'
| |
XXI
| |
LXVII
| |
So he sent his slaves before
To seize upon the Bank with Tower,
And was proceeding with intent
To meet his pensioned Parliament
| |
'From the corners uttermost
Of the bounds of English coast;
From every hut, village, and town
Where those who live and suffer moan
For others' misery or their own,'
| |
XXII
| |
LXVIII
| |
When one fled past, a manic maid,
And her name was Hope, she said:
But she looked more like Despair,
And she cried out in the air:
| |
'From the workhouse and the prison
Where pale as corpses newly risen,
Women, children, young and old
Groan for pain, and weep for cold -
| |
XXIII
| |
LXIX
| |
'My father Time is weak and gray
With waiting for a better day;
See how idiot-like he stands,
Fumbling with his palsied hands!'
| |
'From the haunts of daily life
Where is waged the daily strife
With common wants and common cares
Which sows the human heart with tares -'
| |
XXIV
| |
LXX
| |
'He has had child after child,
And the dust of death is piled
Over every one but me -
Misery, oh, Misery!'
| |
'Lastly from the palaces
Where the murmur of distress
Echoes, like the distant sound
Of a wind alive around'
| |
XXV
| |
LXXI
| |
Then she lay down in the street,
Right before the horses' feet,
Expecting, with a patient eye,
Murder, Fraud, and Anarchy
| |
'Those prison halls of wealth and fashion,
Where some few feel such compassion
For those who groan, and toil, and wail
As must make their brethren pale -'
| |
XXVI
| |
LXXII
| |
When between her and her foes
A mist, a light, and image rose,
Small at first, and weak, and frail
Like the vapour of a vale:
| |
'Ye who suffer woes untold,
Or to feel, or to behold
Your lost country bought and sold
With a price of blood and gold -'
| |
XXVII
| |
LXXIII
| |
Till as clouds grow on the blast,
Like tower-crowned giants striding fast,
And glare with lightnings as they fly,
And speak in thunder to the sky,
| |
'Let a vast assembly be,
And with great solemnity
Declare with measured words that ye
Are, as God has made ye, free -'
| |
XXVIII
| |
LXXIV
| |
It grew - a Shape arrayed in mail
Brighter than the viper's scale,
And upborne on wings whose grain
Was the light of sunny rain.
| |
'Be your strong and simple words
Keen to wound as sharpened swords,
And wide as targets let them be,
With their shade to cover ye.'
| |
XXIX
| |
LXXV
| |
On its helm, seen far away,
A planet, like the Morning's, lay;
And those plumes its light rained through
Like a shower of crimson dew
| |
'Let the tyrants pour around
With a quick and startling sound,
Like the loosening of a sea,
Troops of armed emblazonry.'
| |
.XXX
| |
LXXVI
| |
With a step as soft as wind it passed
O'er the heads of men - so fast
That they knew the presence there,
And looked, - but all was empty air.
| |
'Let the charged artillery drive
Till the dead air seems alive
With the clash of clanging wheels,
And the tramp of horses' heels.'
| |
XXXI
| |
LXXVII
| |
As flowers beneath May's footstep waken,
As stars from Night's loose hair are shaken,
As waves arise when loud winds call,
Thoughts sprung where'er that step did fall.
| |
'Let the fixed bayonet
Gleam with sharp desire to wet
Its bright point in English blood
Looking keen as one for food.'
| |
XXXII
| |
LXXVIII
| |
And the prostrate multitude
Looked - and ankle-deep in blood,
Hope, that maiden most serene,
Was walking with a quiet mien:
| |
'Let the horsemen's scimitars
Wheel and flash, like sphereless stars
Thirsting to eclipse their burning
In a sea of death and mourning.'
| |
XXXIII
| |
LXXIX
| |
And Anarchy, the ghastly birth,
Lay dead earth upon the earth;
The Horse of Death tameless as wind
Fled, and with his hoofs did grind
To dust the murderers thronged behind.
| |
Stand ye calm and resolute,
Like a forest close and mute,
With folded arms and looks which are
Weapons of unvanquished war,
| |
XXXIV
| |
LXXX
| |
A rushing light of clouds and splendour,
A sense awakening and yet tender
Was heard and felt - and at its close
These words of joy and fear arose
| |
'And let Panic, who outspeeds
The career of armed steeds
Pass a disregarded shade
Through your phalanx undismayed.'
| |
XXXV
| |
LXXXI
| |
As if their own indignant Earth
Which gave the sons of England birth
Had felt their blood upon her brow,
And shuddering with a mother's throe
| |
'Let the laws of your own land,
Good or ill, between ye stand
Hand to hand, and foot to foot,
Arbiters of the dispute,'
| |
XXXVI
| |
LXXXII
| |
Had turned every drop of blood
By which her face had been bedewed
To and accent unwithstood, -
As if her heart had cried aloud:
| |
'The old laws of England - they
Whose reverend heads with age are gray,
Children of a wiser day;
And whose solemn voice must be
Thine own echo - Liberty!'
| |
XXXVII
| |
LXXXIII
| |
'Men of England, heirs of Glory,
Hereos of unwritten story,
Nurslings of one mighty Mother,
Hopes of her, and one another;'
| |
'On those who first should violate
Such sacred heralds in their state
Slash the blood that must ensue,
And it will not rest on you.'
| |
XXXVIII
| |
LXXXIV
| |
'Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number,
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you-
Ye are many - they are few.'
| |
'And if then the tyrants dare
Let them ride among you there,
Slash, and stab, and maim, and hew, -
What they like, that let them do.'
| |
XXXIX
| |
LXXXV
| |
'What is Freedom? - ye can tell
That which is slavery is, too well -
For its very name has grown
To an echo of your own.'
| |
'With folded arms and steady eyes,
And little fear, and less surprise,
Look upon them as they slay
Till their rage has died away.'
| |
XL
| |
LXXXVI
| |
''Tis to work and have such pay
As just keeps life from day to day
In your limbs, as in a cell
For the tyrants' use to dwell,'
| |
'Then they will return with shame
To the place from which they came,
And the blood thus shed will speak
In hot blushes on their cheek.'
| |
XLI
| |
LXXXVII
| |
'So that ye for them are made
Loom, and plough, and sword, and spade,
With or without your own will bent
To their defence and nourishment.'
| |
'Every woman in the land
Will point at them as they stand
They will hardly dare to greet
Their acquaintance in the street.'
| |
XLII
| |
LXXXVIII
| |
''Tis to see your children weak
With their mothers pine and peak,
When the winter winds are bleak, -
They are dying whilst I speak.'
| |
'And the bold, true warriors
Who have hugged Danger in wars
Will turn to those who would be free,
Ashamed of such base company.'
| |
XLIII
| |
LXXXIX
| |
''Tis to hunger for such diet
As the rich man in his riot
Casts to the fat dogs that lie
Surfeiting beneath his eye;'
| |
'And that slaughter to the Nation
Shall steam up like inspiration,
Eloquent, oracular;
A volcano heard afar.'
| |
XLIV
| |
XC
| |
''Tis to let the Ghost of Gold
Take from Toil a thousandfold
More than e'er its substance could
In the tyrannies of old.'
| |
'And these words shall then become
Like Oppression's thundered doom
Ringing through each heart and brain,
Heard again - again - again -'
| |
XLV
| |
XCI
| |
'Paper coin - that forgery
Of the title-deeds, which ye
Hold to something of the worth
Of the inheritance of Earth.'
| |
'Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number -
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you -
Ye are many - they are few.' |
XLVI
| |
|
''Tis to be slave in soul
And to hold no strong control
Over your own wills, but be
All that others make of ye.'
| |
|