Classic Poem

Judges, who rule the world by laws!
Will ye despise the righteous cause,
When vile oppression wastes the land?
Dare ye condemn the righteous poor,
And let rich despots live secure,
While gold and greatness bribe your hand?

Have you forgot, or never knew,
That God will judge the judges too?
High in the heav'ns his justice reigns:
Yet you invade the rights of God,
And send your bold decrees abroad,
To bind the conscience in your chains.

A poison'd arrow is your tongue,
The arrow sharp, the poison strong,
And death attends where'er it wounds;
You hear no counsels, cries, nor tears;
So the deaf adder stops her ears
Against the pow'r of charming sounds.

Th' Almighty thunders from the sky!
Your grandeur melts, your titles die,
As hills of snow dissolve and run;
Or snails that perish in their slime,
Or births that come before their time —
Vain births, that never see the sun.

Thus shall the vengeance of the Lord
Safety to all th' oppress'd afford;
And they who hear shall join and say,
" Sure there's a God that rules on high,
A God that hears the bondmen cry,
And will their sufferings well repay. "