And their mothers look pale-like the white shore II. Her sons are as stones in the way— They are masses of senseless clayThey are trodden, and move not away; The abortion with which she travaileth Is Liberty, smitten to death. III. Then trample and dance, thou oppressor, For thy victim is no redressor! Thou art sole lord and possessor Of her corpses and clods and abortions—they pave IV. Hear'st thou the festival din Of Death and Destruction and Sin And Wealth crying "Havoc!" within? 'Tis the bacchanal triumph which makes Truth dumb, Thine epithalamium. V. Ay, marry thy ghastly Wife! Let Fear and Disquiet and Strife Spread thy couch in the chamber of Life! Marry Ruin, thou tyrant! and God be thy guide To the bed of the bride! SONG TO THE MEN OF ENGLAND. I. MEN of England, wherefore plough II. Wherefore feed and clothe and save, Those ungrateful drones who would Drain your sweat-nay, drink your blood? III. Wherefore, Bees of England, forge IV. Have ye leisure, comfort, calm, V. The seed ye sow another reaps; VI. Sow seed, but let no tyrant reap; VII. Shrink to your cellars, holes, and cells; In halls ye deck another dwells. Why shake the chains ye wrought? Ye see The steel ye tempered glance on ye. VIII. With plough and spade and hoe and loom, ENGLAND IN 1819. AN old, mad, blind, despised, and dying king,— Till they drop, blind in blood, without a blow, A people starved and stabbed in the untilled field,— Make as a two-edged sword to all who wield,— Are graves from which a glorious Phantom may SIMILES FOR TWO POLITICAL CHARACTERS OF 1819. I. As from an ancestral oak Two empty ravens sound their clarion, Yell by yell and croak by croak, When they scent the noonday smoke II. As two gibbering night-birds flit And the stars are none or few : III. As a shark and dogfish wait Under an Atlantic isle For the negro-ship whose freight Is the theme of their debate, Wrinkling their red gills the while IV. Are ye, two vultures sick for battle, Two scorpions under one wet stone, Two bloodless wolves whose dry throats rattle, Two vipers tangled into one. GOD SAVE THE QUEEN. I. God prosper, speed, and save, God raise from England's grave, Her murdered Queen! Pave with swift victory The steps of Liberty, Whom Britons own to be Immortal Queen! II. See, she comes throned on high On swift Eternity! God save the Queen! Millions on millions wait, Firm, rapid, and elate, On her majestic state God save the Queen! [III. She is Thine own pure soul God save the Queen! She is Thine own deep love Rained down from heaven above. Wherever she rest or move, God save our Queen! IV. 'Wilder her enemies In their own dark disguise! God save our Queen! All earthly things that dare Her sacred name to bear, Strip them, as kings are, bare; God save the Queen! V. Be her eternal throne Built in our hearts alone God save the Queen! There is blood on the earth that denies ye bread! To weep for the dead, the dead, the dead. What other grief were it just to pay? Your sons, your wives, your brethren, were they! II. Awaken, awaken, awaken! The slave and the tyrant are twin-born foes. To the dust where your kindred repose, repose: III. Wave, wave high the banner When Freedom is riding to conquest by: |