Classic Poem

Falls there no lightning from yon distant heaven
To crush this man's potential impudence?
Shall not its outraged patience thunder: “Hence!
Forsake the shrine where Liberty was given!”

Shall he stand here, with this defiant face,
And clench the fist, and shake the matted hair,
As if his brutal prowess centred there,
Mocking at Justice, in her holy place?

See where he smiles! the sophism falls so pat!
Suits better with his ends than finer stuff—
Goes furthest, with the speech assured and rough—
Is false as Hell's deceit—well—what of that?

“The strong shall rule, the arm of force have sway,
The helpless multitude in bonds abide—”
Again the chuckle, and the shake of pride—
“God's for the stronger—so great Captains say.”

Beyond the narrow freehold of our sight
Methinks, God smiles upon a different wise,
And to the agonizing thought replies:
“Be of good courage—God is for the right.”

Rings the wild menace thro' the Congress Halls
To die out harmless—hath an error friends?
Nay, hirelings, who protect it for their ends;
And fly to shelter, when its falseness falls.

Yet, rise to answer, chafing in thy chair,
With soul indignant stirred, and flushing brow.
Thou art God's candidate—speak soothly now,
Let every word anticipate a prayer.

Gather in thine the outstretched hands that strive
To help thy pleading, agonized and dumb;
Bear up the hearts whose silent sorrows come
For utterance, to the voice that thou canst give.
Theirs is an eloquence that cannot reach
The coldness of our distant sympathies,
Then, pluck them bleeding for the country's eyes,
Speed with the wings of universal speech.

Give us their story in untutored phrase—
The idly-learned of the earth are here,
To hide with Reason what the heart makes clear,
While Truth stands stript, to meet th' Eternal's gaze.

And let the scoffer's feeble shaft be spent—
Such shall stand silent in the better day,
As faithless Sarah stole her shame away,
When the stern guest rebuked her merriment.

So the true word corrects the stormy school.
God's angel, stooping, rests his ruffled wings—
For this is one of many questionings,
And one has spoken well— The right shall rule .