Poems; original and translated by Charles Rann Kennedy ... and Two Poems by the Rev. Rann Kennedy. New Edition. By Charles Rann Kennedy |
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DEMAGOGUES. |
 | Poems; original and translated |  |
DEMAGOGUES.
1843.
The name of Patriot is no more in vogue;
For tis usurp'd by men who in a name
Contrive the means to cloke their selfish aim.
It grieves me that in Virtue's catalogue
A place her baleful opposites should find;
95
Strut without shame, and vent their noisy rage,
To catch the vulgar ear and cheat mankind.
Freedom and Justice! ye whose sacred call
Commanded once the spirits of the brave!
Why now on ears unheeding doth it fall?
The demagogue, the braggart, and the slave
Profane ye with their praise; and statesmen sneer
At sounds that once were to a nation dear.
| Poems; original and translated | |