Why stand dumbfounded and aghast, As at invading armies sweeping by, Surprised by haggard face and threatening cry, The storm unheralded, that rose so fast? Men, with gaunt wives and hungry children, cast Upon the wintry streets to thieve or die, They cannot always suffer silently; Patience gives out. The poor worm turns at last. And not ear listens to the warning call. No eye awakes to see the portent dread. Must brute force reign and social order fall Ere these starved millions can be clothed and fed? A strange phenomenon, this unconcern -- To live so fast and be so slow to learn! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AFTER THE LAST BREATH (J.H. 1813-1904) by THOMAS HARDY THE SURPRISE AT TICONDEROGA [MAY 10, 1775] by MARY ANNA PHINNEY STANSBURY PRELUDE by JOHN MILLINGTON SYNGE AN EPITAPH, ON A FOOLISH BOASTER by PHILIP AYRES HER ANSWER by JOHN BENNETT (1865-1956) THE HILLS OF OLD VERMONT by DANIEL LEAVENS CADY THE SPECTRE BOAT by THOMAS CAMPBELL MASQUE AT THE MARRIAGE OF THE LORD HAYES: SONG. ROSES by THOMAS CAMPION TOWARDS DEMOCRACY: PART 3. A SONG OF ONE IN OLD AGE by EDWARD CARPENTER |