History & Politics

Demos II

by Edwin Arlington Robinson 1869–1935

From The Three Taverns (1920)

History & Politics

So little have you seen of what awaits
Your fevered glimpse of a democracy
Confused and foiled with an equality
Not equal to the envy it creates,
That you see not how near you are the gates
Of an old king who listens fearfully
To you that are outside and are to be
The noisy lords of imminent estates.

Rather be then your prayer that you shall have
Your kingdom undishonored. Having all,
See not the great among you for the small,
But hear their silence; for the few shall save
The many, or the many are to fall --
Still to be wrangling in a noisy grave.

MLA

Robinson, Edwin Arlington. “Demos II.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/robinson_ea/90/.

Chicago

Robinson, Edwin Arlington. “Demos II.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/robinson_ea/90/.

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