No More Learning

'For the labourer thou art bread,
And a comely table spread
From his daily labour come
In a neat and happy home. _220

55.
Thou art clothes, and fire, and food
For the trampled multitude--
No--in countries that are free
Such starvation cannot be
As in England now we see. _225

56.
'To the rich thou art a check,
When his foot is on the neck
Of his victim, thou dost make
That he treads upon a snake.

57.
Thou art Justice--ne'er for gold _230
May thy righteous laws be sold
As laws are in England--thou
Shield'st alike the high and low.

58.
'Thou art Wisdom--Freemen never
Dream that God will damn for ever _235
All who think those things untrue
Of which Priests make such ado.

59.
'Thou art Peace--never by thee
Would blood and treasure wasted be
As tyrants wasted them, when all _240
Leagued to quench thy flame in Gaul.

60.
'What if English toil and blood
Was poured forth, even as a flood?
It availed, Oh, Liberty,
To dim, but not extinguish thee. _245

61.
'Thou art Love--the rich have kissed
Thy feet, and like him following Christ,
Give their substance to the free
And through the rough world follow thee,

62.
'Or turn their wealth to arms, and make _250
War for thy beloved sake
On wealth, and war, and fraud--whence they
Drew the power which is their prey.

63.
'Science, Poetry, and Thought
Are thy lamps; they make the lot _255
Of the dwellers in a cot
So serene, they curse it not.

64.
'Spirit, Patience, Gentleness,
All that can adorn and bless
Art thou--let deeds, not words, express _260
Thine exceeding loveliness.

65.
'Let a great Assembly be
Of the fearless and the free
On some spot of English ground
Where the plains stretch wide around. _265

66.
'Let the blue sky overhead,
The green earth on which ye tread,
All that must eternal be
Witness the solemnity.

67.
'From the corners uttermost _270
Of the bounds of English coast;
From every hut, village, and town
Where those who live and suffer moan
For others' misery or their own,

68.
'From the workhouse and the prison
Where pale as corpses newly risen,
Women, children, young and old _277
Groan for pain, and weep for cold--

69.
'From the haunts of daily life
Where is waged the daily strife _280
With common wants and common cares
Which sows the human heart with tares--

70.
'Lastly from the palaces
Where the murmur of distress
Echoes, like the distant sound _285
Of a wind alive around

71.
'Those prison halls of wealth and fashion,
Where some few feel such compassion
For those who groan, and toil, and wail
As must make their brethren pale--

72.