A Dream of Democracy
Of war, and all its festering, foul brood,--
Grim death, gaunt suffering and loathsome food--
I fell into a trance, being much o'er-wrought:
A vision marvelous my fancy caught!
Afar upon the Mount of Ages, stood
Old Father Time; and from his hands a flood--
(Increased by countless putrid streams that brought
Debris of all earth's cruelty and crime,
Intolerance, injustice, rape and wrong,
Until the putrefaction, stench and slime
Befouled the universe) swept swift along,
And lost itself in a deep crystal sea,--
The cleansing Ocean of Democracy.