free-verse12 lines
Upstarts.
by Francis William Lauderdale AdamsWhat? do you say that we, the toilers - the slaves -
(Why strain at the gnat name
Who swallow the camel thing your pocket craves?) -
That we are "just the same,"
(Nay, worse) when power is ours and wealth - that we
Are harder masters still,
More keen to ring her last from misery,
More greedy of our will?
'Tis true! And when you see men so - see us
Sneer at us, call us swine! -
"How we must love you who have made us thus,
You may perhaps divine!"