An old, mad, blind, despised, and dying king, Princes, the dregs of their dull race, who flow Through public scorn, -- mud from a muddy spring, -- Rulers who neither see, nor feel, nor know, But leech-like to their fainting country cling, Till they drop, blind in blood, without a blow, -- A people starved and stabbed in the untilled field, -- An army, which liberticide and prey Makes as a two-edged sword to all who wield, -- Golden and sanguine laws which tempt and slay; Religion Christless, Godless -- a book sealed; A Senate, -- Time's worst statute unrepealed, -- Are graves, from which a glorious Phantom may Burst, to illumine our tempestuous day. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ACCOMPLISHED FACTS by CARL SANDBURG A LITTLE CHRISTMAS BASKET by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR PSALM 13 by OLD TESTAMENT BIBLE PSALM 130 by OLD TESTAMENT BIBLE FOR THERE IS NO HELP IN THEM by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN THE MISTAKE by HARRY RANDOLPH BLYTHE |