The Poetical Works of John Critchley Prince Edited by R. A. Douglas Lithgow |
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A CALL TO THE PEOPLE. |
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 | The Poetical Works of John Critchley Prince |  |
43
A CALL TO THE PEOPLE.
Awake! (the patriot poet cries)—
Awake, each sire and son;
From long degrading sleep arise
Ere ruin is begun!
The very echo of your name—
The very shadow of your fame—
Hath many a battle won;
And can ye stoop to what ye are—
Chained followers of Oppression's car?
Awake, each sire and son;
From long degrading sleep arise
Ere ruin is begun!
The very echo of your name—
The very shadow of your fame—
Hath many a battle won;
And can ye stoop to what ye are—
Chained followers of Oppression's car?
Have ye not lavished health and life,
At mad ambition's call!
Have ye not borne the brunt of strife,
Unbroken as a wall!
Have ye not bled for worthless things,—
Priests, placemen, concubines, and kings,—
Have ye not toiled for all!
And can ye, in this startling hour,
Still slumber in the grasp of power?
At mad ambition's call!
Have ye not borne the brunt of strife,
Unbroken as a wall!
Have ye not bled for worthless things,—
Priests, placemen, concubines, and kings,—
Have ye not toiled for all!
And can ye, in this startling hour,
Still slumber in the grasp of power?
Awake! but not to spend your breath
In unavailing ire;
Awake! but not to deal in death,
Crime, carnage, blood, and fire;
Awake! but not to hurl the brand
Of desolation round the land,
Till all your hopes expire;
Lest vengeance rise amid the gloom,
To push ye to a deeper doom.
In unavailing ire;
Awake! but not to deal in death,
Crime, carnage, blood, and fire;
Awake! but not to hurl the brand
Of desolation round the land,
Till all your hopes expire;
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To push ye to a deeper doom.
In pity to yourselves, beware
Of battle-breathing knaves,
Who raise their voices in the air
To congregated slaves;—
Those men who Judas-like betray,
Or lead through anarchy the way
To dungeons and to graves:—
Strong arms can work no great reform,
Mind—mind alone—must quell the storm!
Of battle-breathing knaves,
Who raise their voices in the air
To congregated slaves;—
Those men who Judas-like betray,
Or lead through anarchy the way
To dungeons and to graves:—
Strong arms can work no great reform,
Mind—mind alone—must quell the storm!
Awake! in moral manhood strong,
Endowed with mental might,
With warm persuasion on your tongue,
To plead the cause of right;
Let reason, centre of the soul,
Your wild and wandering thoughts control,
And give them life and light!
Then may ye hope at length to gain
That freedom ye have sought in vain.
Endowed with mental might,
With warm persuasion on your tongue,
To plead the cause of right;
Let reason, centre of the soul,
Your wild and wandering thoughts control,
And give them life and light!
Then may ye hope at length to gain
That freedom ye have sought in vain.
O God! the future yet shall see,
On this fair world of thine,
The myriads wise, and good, and free,
Fulfil thy blest design;
The dawn of Truth, long overcast,
Shall kindle into day at last,
Bright, boundless, and divine;
And man shall walk the fruitful sod,
A being worthy of his God!
On this fair world of thine,
The myriads wise, and good, and free,
Fulfil thy blest design;
The dawn of Truth, long overcast,
Shall kindle into day at last,
Bright, boundless, and divine;
And man shall walk the fruitful sod,
A being worthy of his God!
| The Poetical Works of John Critchley Prince | |