YES, we are mighty: yet such things have been, As the imperceptible exit of proud Power, When in a Nation whoso watched hath seen Lax guardship of her dower. Lords of Unthrift, it is of little use To caulk and solder tiny leaks to-day, If, in vast torrent, through your open sluice, Treasure be drained away. War, with her secret burrow in ocean's breast, And hellish ambush in the heavenly air -- War found you wise: and is fell Peace the test Your wisdom least can bear? Look, -- the sweet truant, beloved Prosperity, To happier lands returning, shuns these shores, Where, daily engulfed as in some hungry sea, Million on million pours. Lock, lock the floodgates. Lag not now; for when The leaders halt and hover, Fate makes haste! And loftiest, noblest wasters may be then Cast rudely forth as waste. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BETRAND AND GOURGAUD TALK OVER OLD TIMES by EDGAR LEE MASTERS THE ICE-CREAM SANDWICH by KAREN SWENSON THE THREE LITTLE KITTENS (A CAT'S TALE, WITH ADDITIONS) by ELIZA LEE CABOT FOLLEN ODE ON A DISTANT PROSPECT OF ETON COLLEGE by THOMAS GRAY BISHOP BRUNO by ROBERT SOUTHEY |