The people is a beast of muddy brain That knows not its own force and therefore stands Loaded with wood and stone; the powerless hands Of a mere child guide it with bit and rein. One kick would be enough to break the chain; But the beast fears, and what the child demands It does, nor its own terror understands, Confused and stupefied by bugbears vain. Most wonderful, with its own hand it ties And gags itself—gives itself death and war For pence doled out by kings from its own store. Its own are all things between earth and heaven, But this it knows not; and if one arise To tell this truth, it
...more
