Poems, by Robert Louis Stevenson, hitherto unpublished/The old world moans and topes
THE OLD WORLD MOANS AND TOPES—1871
Intellectually and politically, the period when this poem was written was for all Europe a time of restlessness. The war of 1870 had upset the old order of things in continental affairs, and religious belief had, for many, not as yet reconciled itself to the disturbing influence of the new thought of Darwin and Spencer. In the present poem Stevenson offers as a prescription to cure the ills of the time a renewed faith in the nobility of mankind itself, thus coming into accord with the conviction of that ruggedly fine old Scotsman to whom, politically, he was opposed, but who still so greatly aroused his admiration. For was it not Stevenson's compatriot, Thomas Carlyle, who said: "There is one godlike thing, the essence of all that ever was or ever will be godlike in this world: the veneration done to Human Worth by the hearts of men."
THE OLD WORLD MOANS AND TOPES
The old world moans and topes,
Is restless and ill at ease;
And the old-world politicians
Prescribe for the new disease.
I have stooped my head to listen
(Its voice is far from strong)[1]
For the burthen of its moanings
As it topes all night long.
I have watched a patient vigil
Beside its fever bed,
And I think that I can tell you
The burthen of what it said:—
"As sick folk long for morning
And long for night again,
So long for noble objects
The hearts of noble men.
"They long and grope about them,
With feverish hands they grope
For objects of endeavour,
And exercise for hope.
"And they shall be our heroes
And be our Avatar,
Who shall either reach the objects
Or tell us what they are."
- ↑ In a hand, written much later, Stevenson penciled three exclamation marks after this line, then added, "Bully for you, L. Stevenson!"