An old, mad, blind, despised, and dying king,-- br Princes, the dregs of their dull race, who flow br Through public scorn,--mud from a muddy spring,-- br Rulers who neither see, nor feel, nor know, br But leech-like to their fainting country cling, br Till they drop, blind in blood, without a blow,-- br A people starved and stabbed in the untilled field,-- br An army, which liberticide and prey br Makes as a two-edged sword to all who wield,-- br Golden and sanguine laws which tempt and slay; br Religion Christless, Godless--a book sealed; br A Senate,--Time's worst statute unrepealed,-- br Are graves, from which a glorious Phantom may br Burst, to illumine our tempestous day.