Voices from the crowd :: :: University of Virginia Library

Lonely sitting, deeply musing,
On a still and starry night,
Full of fancies, when my glances
Turn'd upon those far romances
Scatter'd o'er the Infinite;
On a sudden, broke upon me
Murmurs, rumours, quick and loud,
And, half-waking, I discover'd
An innumerable crowd.

'Mid the uproar of their voices
Scarcely could I hear a word;
There was rushing, there was crushing,
And a sound like music gushing,
And a roar like forests stirr'd
By a fierce wind passing o'er them:—
And a voice came now and then,
Louder than them all, exclaiming,
“Give us Justice! we are men!”

And the longer that I listen'd,
More distinctly could I hear,
'Mid the poising of the voicing,
Sounds of sorrow and rejoicing,
Utterance of Hope and Fear;

And a clash of disputation,
And of words at random cast—
Truths and Errors intermingling,
Of the present and the past.

Some where shouting that Oppression
Held their consciences in thrall;
Some were crying, “Men are dying,
Hunger-smit, and none supplying
Bread, the birthright of us all.”
Some exclaim'd that Wealth was haughty,
Harsh, and callous to the poor;—
Others cried, the poor were vicious,
Idle, thankless, insecure.

Some, with voice of indignation,
Told the story of their wrongs,
Full of dolour—life-controller—
That for difference of colour
They were sold like cattle-throngs.
Others, pallid, weak, and shivering,
Said that laws were surely bad,
When the willing hand was idle,
And the cheeks of Toil were sad.

“Give us freedom for the conscience!”
“Equal rights!”—“Unfetter'd Mind!”
“Education!”—“Compensation!”
“Justice for a mighty nation!”
“Progress!”—“Peace with all mankind!”

“Let us labour!”—“Give us churches!”
“Give us Corn where'er it grow!”
These, and other cries, around me
Surged incessant, loud or low.

Old opinions jarr'd with new ones;
New ones jostled with the old;
In such Babel, few were able
To distinguish truth from fable,
In the tale their neighbours told.
But one voice above all others
Sounded like the voice of ten,
Clear, sonorous, and persuasive:—
“Give us Justice! we are men!”

And I said, “Oh Sovereign Reason,
Sire of Peace and Liberty!
Aid for ever their endeavour:—
Boldly let them still assever
All the rights they claim in thee.
Aid the mighty Fermentation
Till it purifies at last,
And the Future of the people
Is made brighter than the Past.”