The Poetical Works of Walter C. Smith ... Revised by the Author: Coll. ed. |
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 | The Poetical Works of Walter C. Smith |  |
255
RUMOUR
Open-mouthed Rumour ran from street to street,
Telling of flour devoured by rats and mice;
Telling of old stacked corn by wet and heat
Wasted, while waiting for a famine-price;
Telling of flour devoured by rats and mice;
Telling of old stacked corn by wet and heat
Wasted, while waiting for a famine-price;
Telling of fortunes speculators made
Out of the miseries of the hapless poor;
Telling of mothers starved and lying dead,
While babies gnawed their breasts upon the floor;
Out of the miseries of the hapless poor;
Telling of mothers starved and lying dead,
While babies gnawed their breasts upon the floor;
Telling of men devouring grass and hay
To stay the hunger that devoured their bones;
Telling how gamesome children now would play
At funerals only on the paving stones;
To stay the hunger that devoured their bones;
Telling how gamesome children now would play
At funerals only on the paving stones;
Telling how soldiers did their sabres whet,
And kept their horses saddled day and night,
And primed their muskets, when the people met,
Ready to quench in blood the cause of right;
And kept their horses saddled day and night,
And primed their muskets, when the people met,
Ready to quench in blood the cause of right;
Telling of speakers threatened for true words;
Telling of lawyers framing treason-pleas;
Telling of harsh things done by angry lords;
Telling of statesmen who were ill at ease.
Telling of lawyers framing treason-pleas;
Telling of harsh things done by angry lords;
Telling of statesmen who were ill at ease.
Many-tongued Rumour had a busy time,
And men were greedy for the tales she bore,
And when she told of madness, sin, or crime,
The worse the story they believed the more!
And men were greedy for the tales she bore,
And when she told of madness, sin, or crime,
The worse the story they believed the more!
O foolish world, be-rumoured of they wits!
How had a spark then set thee in a blaze
Amid thy heats and chills and trembling fits,
And turned to grief the glory of those days!
How had a spark then set thee in a blaze
Amid thy heats and chills and trembling fits,
And turned to grief the glory of those days!
| The Poetical Works of Walter C. Smith | |