 | Ballads and Lyrical poems |  |
13
THE COMING TIME.
“What shall I do to be for ever known,
And make the age to come mine own?”
Cowley.
And make the age to come mine own?”
Cowley.
What thou shalt do to be for ever known?
Poet or statesman—look with steadfast gaze,
And see yon giant Shadow 'mid the haze,
Far off, but coming. Listen to the moan
That sinks and swells in fitful under-tone,
And lend it words, and give the shadow form;—
And see the Light, now pale and dimly shown
That yet shall beam resplendent after storm.
Preach thou their coming, if thy soul aspire
To be the foremost in the ranks of fame;—
Prepare the way, with hand that will not tire,
And tongue unfaltering, and o'er earth proclaim
The Shadow, the Roused Multitude;—the Cry,
“Justice for all!”—the Light, True Liberty.
| Ballads and Lyrical poems | |