Upton Sinclair, ed. (1878–1968).
The Cry for Justice: An Anthology of the Literature of Social Protest. 1915. | | | | The Lotus Eaters |
By Alfred Tennyson |
(Probably the most popular of English lyrical poets; 1809–1892. Made Poet-laureate in 1850, and a baron in 1884) |
| | | LET us swear an oath, and keep it with an equal mind, | |
| In the hollow Lotos-land to live and lie reclined | |
| On the hills like Gods together, careless of mankind. | |
| For they lie beside their nectar, and the bolts are hurl’d | |
| Far below them in the valleys, and the clouds are lightly curl’d | 5 |
| Round their golden houses, girdled with the gleaming world: | |
| Where they smile in secret, looking over wasted lands, | |
| Blight and famine, plague and earthquake, roaring deeps and fiery sands, | |
| Clanging fights and flaming towns, and sinking ships, and praying hands. | |
| But they smile, they find a music centred in a doleful song | 10 |
| Steaming up, a lamentation and an ancient tale of wrong, | |
| Like a tale of little meaning tho’ the words are strong; | |
| Chanted from an ill-used race of men that cleave the soil, | |
| Sow the seed, and reap the harvest with enduring toil, | |
| Storing yearly little dues of wheat, and wine and oil; | 15 |
| Till they perish and they suffer—some, ’tis whisper’d—down in hell. | | | | |
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