I saw the nobles of that land
In pride and pomp roll by;
And I read contempt for the poor man's lot,
In every haughty eye.
II.
I heard the infant's cry for bread—
The mother's piercing shriek;
And I marked the trace of famine in
The father's sunken cheek.
I saw him cast his eye to heaven
With a stern and sad appeal;
And I knew he felt that anguish deep
Which the hopeless only feel.
Yet still the nobles of that land
In pride and pomp rolled by;
Nor less contempt for the poor man's lot
Marked every haughty eye!
III.
The People humbly sued for bread,
But their rulers "gave a stone:"
And they steeled their sordid hearts and mocked
The peasant's dying groan!
"Low rents, cheap bread," the people cried—
"Untrammel labour's hands!"
"Taxed corn, high rents, low wages," sneered
The callous ruling bands!
And the manlords of that land rolled by
To church in pomp and pride!
And the people's dying wail despised,
And the people's power defied!
IV.
Then madness came upon the land,
'Twas the madness of despair,
Unarmed crowds went forth—to beg!
- ↑ Skibbereen, Waterford, &c. The claims of the people upon these occasions was, to be freed of a tax which the landowners alone ought to bear.
