| |
| OH come, ye lords and ladies of the realm, | |
| Come from your couches soft, your perfumed halls, | |
| Come watch with me throughout the weary hours. | |
| Here are there sounds to thrill your jaded nerves, | |
| Such as the cave-men, your forefathers, heard, | 5 |
| Crouching in forests of primeval night; | |
| Here tier on tier in steel-barred cages pent | |
| The beasts ye breed and hunt throughout the world. | |
| Hark to that snore—some beast that slumbers deep; | |
| Hark to that roar—some beast that dreams of blood; | 10 |
| Hark to that moan—some beast that wakes and weeps; | |
| And then in sudden stillness mark the sound— | |
| Some beast that rasps his vermin-haunted hide! | |
| |
| Oh come, ye lords and ladies of the realm, | |
| Come keep the watch with me; this show is yours. | 15 |
| Behold the source of all your joy and pride, | |
| The beasts ye harness fast and set to draw | |
| The chariots of your pageantry and pomp! | |
| It is their blood ye shed to make your feasts, | |
| It is their treadmill that moves all your world. | 20 |
| Come gather now, and think how it will be | |
| When God shall send his flaming angel down | |
| And break these bars—so hath he done of yore, | |
| So doeth he to lords and ladies grand— | |
| And loose these beasts to raven in your streets! | 25 |
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