 | Poems |  |
289
TO THE CONGRESS OF PARIS.
Lo, at the council-table seated,
The Congress sits in talk profound,
While guess and rumour are repeated
To wondering nations listening round.
Well may the peoples, gagged and fettered,
Flutter to hear of this and that,
Without a hope that they'll be bettered
By all, O Congress, that you're at!
Yes, despots laugh and subjects groan;
But, hark! I hear the nations say,
“We'll hold a Congress of our own
“Without your help, O Kings, some day.”
The Congress sits in talk profound,
While guess and rumour are repeated
To wondering nations listening round.
Well may the peoples, gagged and fettered,
Flutter to hear of this and that,
Without a hope that they'll be bettered
By all, O Congress, that you're at!
Yes, despots laugh and subjects groan;
But, hark! I hear the nations say,
“We'll hold a Congress of our own
“Without your help, O Kings, some day.”
What by your awful wisdom's uttered,
O Congress, we can only guess;
To us no syllable is muttered;
But royal ears your councils bless.
Around, the trembling nations listen:
O what will come of all this fuss!
Imperial eyes with gladness glisten;
Ah! that can bode no good to us.
Yes, despots laugh and subjects groan;
But hark! I hear the nations say,
“We'll hold a Congress of our own
“Without your help, O Kings, some day.”
O Congress, we can only guess;
To us no syllable is muttered;
But royal ears your councils bless.
Around, the trembling nations listen:
O what will come of all this fuss!
Imperial eyes with gladness glisten;
Ah! that can bode no good to us.
Yes, despots laugh and subjects groan;
But hark! I hear the nations say,
“We'll hold a Congress of our own
“Without your help, O Kings, some day.”
We hoped, indeed, the proverb's moral
Would hold true, not for thieves alone;
The people said, “When Emperors quarrel,
The peoples perhaps will get their own.”
This, too, their sceptred owners fearing,
Too soon they bid their war to cease;
O Congress, soon shall we be hearing,
Thrones only gain by this your peace.
Yes, despots laugh and subjects groan;
But, hark! I hear the nations say,
“We'll hold a Congress of our own
“Without your help, O Kings, some day!”
Would hold true, not for thieves alone;
The people said, “When Emperors quarrel,
The peoples perhaps will get their own.”
This, too, their sceptred owners fearing,
Too soon they bid their war to cease;
O Congress, soon shall we be hearing,
Thrones only gain by this your peace.
Yes, despots laugh and subjects groan;
But, hark! I hear the nations say,
“We'll hold a Congress of our own
“Without your help, O Kings, some day!”
290
Say, is the map of Europe, lying
Upon your council-table there,
Their rights to nations still denying,
The self-same markings still to bear?
Vienna's Congress kings invested
With states that still their freedom claim;
Has Paris 'gainst their wrongs protested?
Or does it leave them but the same?
Yes, despots laugh and subjects groan;
But, hark! I hear the nations say,
“We'll hold a Congress of our own
“Without your help, O Kings, some day.”
Upon your council-table there,
Their rights to nations still denying,
The self-same markings still to bear?
Vienna's Congress kings invested
With states that still their freedom claim;
Has Paris 'gainst their wrongs protested?
Or does it leave them but the same?
Yes, despots laugh and subjects groan;
But, hark! I hear the nations say,
“We'll hold a Congress of our own
“Without your help, O Kings, some day.”
England and France, your faith believing,
Sardinia helped you in your need;
Are you her holy hopes deceiving?
Or, say, shall Italy be freed?
How often, fettered Poland naming,
“Poland,” you said, “again should be.”
Are you your uttered words disclaiming?
Or, say, shall Poland now be free?
Yes, despots laugh and subjects groan;
But, hark! I hear the nations say,
“We'll hold a Congress of our own
“Without your help, O Kings, some day.”
Sardinia helped you in your need;
Are you her holy hopes deceiving?
Or, say, shall Italy be freed?
How often, fettered Poland naming,
“Poland,” you said, “again should be.”
Are you your uttered words disclaiming?
Or, say, shall Poland now be free?
Yes, despots laugh and subjects groan;
But, hark! I hear the nations say,
“We'll hold a Congress of our own
“Without your help, O Kings, some day.”
Alas! alas! what fettered nation,
What people gagged and watched and bound,
Thinks that for it, its hoped salvation
Will in your protocols be found?
What matter? Hope to us is singing
Of all of which your parchment's dumb;
The deluge that our new world's bringing,
Our better world, will surely come.
Yes, despots laugh and subjects groan;
But, hark! I hear the nations say,
“We'll hold a Congress of our own
“Without your help, O Kings, some day.”
What people gagged and watched and bound,
Thinks that for it, its hoped salvation
Will in your protocols be found?
What matter? Hope to us is singing
Of all of which your parchment's dumb;
The deluge that our new world's bringing,
Our better world, will surely come.
Yes, despots laugh and subjects groan;
But, hark! I hear the nations say,
“We'll hold a Congress of our own
“Without your help, O Kings, some day.”
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