Upton Sinclair, ed. (18781968). The Cry for Justice: An Anthology of the Literature of Social Protest. 1915. | | Cry of the People | By John G. Neihardt | (Western poet and novelist, born 1881) |
| TREMBLE before your chattels, | |
Lords of the scheme of things! | |
Fighters of all earths battles, | |
Ours is the might of kings! | |
Guided by seers and sages, | 5 |
The worlds heart-beat for a drum, | |
Snapping the chains of ages, | |
Out of the night we come! | |
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Lend us no ear that pities! | |
Offer no almoners hand! | 10 |
Alms for the builders of cities! | |
When will you understand? | |
Down with your pride of birth | |
And your golden gods of trade! | |
A man is worth to his mother, Earth, | 15 |
All that a man has made! | |
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We are the workers and makers! | |
We are no longer dumb! | |
Tremble, O Shirkers and Takers! | |
Sweeping the earthwe come! | 20 |
Ranked in the world-wide dawn, | |
Marching into the day! | |
The night is gone and the sword is drawn | |
And the scabbard is thrown away! | | | |
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