Classic Poem

Depressed in spirit and harassed by thought
Of war, and all its festering, foul brood, —
Grim death, gaunt suffering and loathsome food —
I fell into a trance, being much o'er-wrought:
A vision marvelous my fancy caught!
Afar upon the Mount of Ages, stood
Old Father Time; and from his hands a flood —
(Increased by countless putrid streams that brought
Debris of all earth's cruelty and crime,
Intolerance, injustice, rape and wrong,
Until the putrefaction, stench and slime
Befouled the universe) — swept swift along ,
And lost itself in a deep crystal sea, —
The cleansing Ocean of Democracy.