Pansies (Lawrence)/When Wilt Thou Teach the People—?

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WHEN WILT THOU TEACH THE PEOPLE———?
When wilt thou teach the peopleGod of justice, to save themselves—?They have been saved so oftenand sold.
O God of justice, send no more savioursof the people!
When a saviour has saved a peoplethey find he has sold them to his father.They say: We are saved, but we are starving.He says: The sooner will you eat imaginary cake in the mansions of my father.They say: Can't we have a loaf of common bread?He says: No, you must go to heaven, and eat the most marvellous cake.—
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Or Napoleon says: Since I have saved you from the ci-devants,you are my property, be prepared to die for me, and to work for me.—
Or later republicans say: You are saved,therefore you are our savings, our capitalwith which we shall do big business.—
Or Lenin says: You are saved, but you are saved wholesale.You are no longer men, that is bourgeois;you are items in the soviet state,and each item will get its ration,but it is the soviet state alone which countsthe items are of small importance,the state having saved them all.—
And so it goes on, with the saving of the people.God of justice, when wilt thou teach them to save themselves?

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