A blight has fallen on the fecund globe,
A drop of poison on the human hive,
And on the swarming ant-hill where men drive
Their myriad pursuits
Some god as though to harass
Their labour turns his flaming burning-glass.
The withering blasts of some Olympian curse
The teeming clans disperse,
And breeds an ill in nature; a consuming rust
Mildews the wholesome grain; a cankerous spot
Is in earth's globèd fruit,
A leprosy that eats the planet's crust,
A gangrene and a rot.
2.
How can we walk the same earth, undisturbed,
Breathe the identical air, indifferent,
And gaze on the same stars with alien thought?
How, unperturbed,
Gather the fruits the impartial seasons pour
Nor share impartially the general store?
Will Strangers from another planet sent
Succour the Kin that we ignore?
Will other worlds supply the need that we neglect?
Shall we expect
Some heavenly Samaritan to do aught
If we of the terrestrial clan
And holy Nation, Man,
Avert our eyes
With sophistries
And flee the scene nor call it into mind?
Lo, these co-heritors with us of life!
Than which all else is surmise, these who share
This one indubitable fact, to be aware!
To drink the light, to feel, to breathe the air,
This one indubitable fact outlined
Upon the enveloping dark.
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