 | Odes in Ohio, and other poems |  |
43
ANARCHY
Dread is the hour when giant Mob, mad child of Liberty,
Blows his volcanic trumpet-blast, and shakes the land and sea.
Blows his volcanic trumpet-blast, and shakes the land and sea.
Not when Pompeii danced or dreamed, with spasms and groans of earth
Sprang fiercer light, rushed darker night, to quench her moans and mirth.
Sprang fiercer light, rushed darker night, to quench her moans and mirth.
The hurricane, that holds its breath a century in mid-air,
Breathes palace-gates and castle-walls away like gossamer.
Breathes palace-gates and castle-walls away like gossamer.
44
Murder usurps the judgment-seat, while Justice writhes in prison,—
Lo, from the corpse of Government its soul, the law, has risen!
Lo, from the corpse of Government its soul, the law, has risen!
| Odes in Ohio, and other poems | |