Therefore do thou at least arise and warn, Not folded in thy mantle, a blind seer, But naked in thy anger, and new-born, As in the hour when thy voice sounded clear To the world's slaves, and tyrants quaked for fear. Thou hadst a message then, a word of scorn, First for thyself, thy own crimes' challenger, And next for those who withered in thy dawn. An hundred years have passed since that fair day, And still the world cries loud, in its desire, That right is wronged, and force alone has sway. What profit are they, thy guns' tongues of fire? Nay, leave to England her sad creed of gold; Plead thou Man's rights, clean-handed as of old. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE BLESSED VIRGIN, COMPARED TO THE AIR WE BREATHE by GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS SUMMER'S LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT: AUTUMN by THOMAS NASHE TO A LADY: SHE REFUSING TO CONTINUE A DISPUTE WITH ME by MATTHEW PRIOR CHINA 1937 by LAURA FRANCES ALEXANDER |