Let Us Alone
by
Many–and yet our fate is one,
And little after all we crave–
Enjoyment of the common sun,
Fair passage to the common grave;
Our bread and fire, our plain attire,
The free possession of our own.
Rulers be wise! and kings and czars,
Let us alone–let us alone.
We have a faith, we have a law;
A faith in God, a hope in man;
And own, with reverence and awe,
Love universal as His plan.
To Charity we bow the knee.
The earth’s refiner and our own.
Bigots, and fighters about words,
Let us alone–let us alone.
The world is the abode of men.
And not of demons stark and blind;
And Eden’s self might bloom again,
If men did justice to mankind.
We want no more of Nature’s store,
Than Nature meant to be our own.
Masters and gerents of the earth,
Let us alone–let us alone.
Your meddling brought us grief and care,
And added misery day by day;
We’re not so foolish as we were,
Nor fashion’d of such ductile clay;
Your petty jars, your wicked wars,
Have lost their charm, the gilding’s gone:
Victorious marshals, vaulting kings,
Let us alone–let us alone.
Though dwellers in a little isle,
We bear no hate to other lands,
And think that Peace on earth might smile
If we and others join’d our hands.
In Reason’s spite why should we fight?
We’ll war no more–we’re wiser grown.
Quibblers and stirrers up of hate,
Let us alone–let us alone.
White man or black, to us alike;
Foemen of no men we will live,
We will not lift our hands to strike.
Or evil for advantage give.
Our hands are free to earn their fee,
Our tongues to let the truth be known;
So despots, knaves, and foes of right,
Let us alone–let us alone.
Great are our destinies: our task,
Long since begun, shall never end
While suffering has a boon to ask,
Or truth needs spokesmen to defend;
While vice or crime pollute the time,
While nations bleed, or patriots groan.
Rulers be wise! and meddling fools,
Let us alone–let us alone.