 | Collected poems of Thomas Hardy |  |
MUTE OPINION
I
I traversed a dominionWhose spokesmen spake out strong
Their purpose and opinion
Through pulpit, press, and song.
I scarce had means to note there
A large-eyed few, and dumb,
Who thought not as those thought there
That stirred the heat and hum.
116
II
When, grown a Shade, beholdingThat land in lifetime trode,
To learn if its unfolding
Fulfilled its clamoured code,
I saw, in web unbroken,
Its history outwrought
Not as the loud had spoken,
But as the mute had thought.
| Collected poems of Thomas Hardy | |