Edgar Lee Masters - John Cabanis

Neither spite , fellow citizens , Nor forgetfulness of the shiftlessness , And the lawlessness and waste Under democracy's rule in Spoon River Made me desert the party of law and order And lead the liberal party. Fellow citizens ! I saw as one with second sight That every man of the millions of men Who give themselves to Freedom , And fail while Freedom fails , Enduring waste and lawlessness , And the rule of the weak and the blind , Dies in the hope of building earth , Like the coral insect , for the temple To stand on at the last. And I swear that Freedom will wage to the end The war for making every soul Wise and strong and as fit to rule As Plato's lofty guardians In a world republic girdled ! Edgar Lee Mastershttp://www.poemhunter.com/poem/john-cabanis/