The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1897-07-01
Reply to LOcksley Hall Sixty Years After.

Nay my crandsic though you leave me latest iorio If l"cksey Hall
speak of amy' heavenly sraces and the frnilty Of her fMh-
Point m = TO the shield Of Lockshey, hanging in this mansion lone
Unjust turn from such sad spendor re my heart " changed TO s'"he
While you pirate Of pride ancestral and the dead dreams of your youth,
l. despite my birth and lineage. a m a hauler for The truth
To 1.-THE work-worn. half-starred peasants Of this realm my heart goes ut
Those who pIundered and forgotten, lind this life a ruthless rout
In the rusting robes Of Amy booued the r"ast that had fled
From the cheeks of panpsr maidcns forced into the lroth"i-bed;
In her sanity smile, and Chances flashed the sunlight that ws shut
BY the iron-hand injustice from the eotters humble hut,
Nay, It's wrong that W should range with science goryins in the time
While we force III brother mortal. into slumor need and crime
Wicked We should pose as Christians singing songs o God on high,
Needless of his tortured creatures who In pauptr prisons lie.
rhrklcs, is the crime Of turning crrcd-Hoppcd ears 10 tcardrops shed
by TIT won'n whom oppression rohs Of virtue 'r their bred
satans blush would mantle crimson could he see the atnnted child
Shaving gin u mats and markets. helpless. hopeless, and rrViled~
See. its paid face upitcd from the whrrng factory wheels.
Tear-stained with grief and anguish Of baby brain that reefs
Tortured in HES budding sprngnme, tonng on with silhed cries.
skies and birds and nowery meadows made for ehildre" wealthy born
While Gods outcasts with their parents robbed and drudstng, live fnlorn.
Mn in whom the fires of hope have sunk into Astohd spark,
Mothers rearing helpless infants for the btothcis dawnIrss dark
While the worlds eem,f far too crowded to provide US work FOR all
Acres spread their untitled bnsems while the nations rise and fall.
Natures storchousc made for all men. is monopoizcd by some.
iobting labor of its produce. making almshousc. Jail and Stun.
side by side with art and progress, rrecps the ha=gard spactcr. wmt-
or''ps the frshtfnl phantom Hunger with its bloodls = body saunt.
Wider, wider spreads the chasm twixt the wealthy andth. poor
Social discomfort declareing that such wrongs cannot endure.
And this yawuins Of the chasm is the curse OF every race
Asst ,ops and kills its manhood ere it reach the xenthrplac";
spartan vaor Grecian learning. Roman honor had thfr day.
But land plunhcr rose mon them, booming death by slow decay.
Shall we wait for evolution. let it right these monsrous wrongs.
wl'. the helpless. young and tender "ru''e and sroan neat" social t'o"gsE
Than LEI philos"phic coward keep u. in this styglan night.
lntk>ley Hal hnsn now a master who would claim the earth for all
Who would make the ttlsd ider cease to rob his trnnnt-thrIl;
Wreck the Church and state If need b" better such in line will rs0,
but who rom ihlsg glorious PURPOSE ncrernorc will turn his eyes
Never, tint the arms of nature clasp in joy her uutcaSt child
Long sinne driven from the meadow and the deli and woodland wild.
Till to each belongs the produce OF hi, hand and heart and brain
md glad hcraldso of millennium thrill along our path of pain,
Though The world h, piled It's taggots round the great and good an brave
Thrust IT'S socrates the hcmlock, scourgrd It's Jesus to the grave;
Though Its sncer has chilled the tcndc and its frown has cursed the good.
While its Nero sways the s.rpter and its Emmett dies in blood:
Yet in truth there ha power that through caasrIc~ cycles slow
Will ins'rbc the doom Of Error in an eycrIadcIcss glow.
Ssahng IN the blood and ju.tice-reign from one * zone.
,n'Ais'' Dreamer say your IL ytnE youth yu oar felt soE
we'll only pray Hfcs sunset, .h'NIu- down my head with snow.
'h'i "' ,wtf'r me fon my purposc, though the vitor-Aurpl, wine
IN M reach ina II mtshkrn my convictions they ar mine
l" nWt condemn tcr rahsts rhynrstprs authors, and their wuy,
JUST h'husc 'hcy pont about us to tho errors # to-day;
spare them. though they gaze norupward from ON self wrought pit,ou, plight
OF 'housh blinded and desparinE, they ire struggling toward the light.
act the r'alist dip his falcon in the boiling bnodo OF life
TIL the worlds shall sick and saddrn of its folly aud its sin.
Voice" which murmur thrkts own message as we circle n uld the sun:
That, though greed and creed divide us still humanity hom
me In all Its godlke longing, ont in all lis hopes and fears.
win It's chlfaries srahold, hcnnh'hs.a and its svs If unShm. tear,
Ihent stare sorrow swinging through t" vast Immortal void
Shall, rrgonrratrd, slutnIcr while mans heart is oycrioy.d.
Ihrlitd with ycarning> atruisth, triumphiug DER cids If clay,
AS "" march into thc lovohght Of tlcg grand MilcnniI day
Ba IRON Iomax Iilman in the Arena.