THE HIGHER BARBARISM
Barbarians at the gate,
Civilised folk within:
Rabble pull down the great,
Mankind begins again:
That's how it used to be.
Barbarians at the top,
The civiliser's rise
Brought to a needless stop
By people rich and wise:
That's how it is today.
The outcasts drained the swamp,
Built social aqueducts;
The rich on the poor now stomp,
On life charge usufructs;
That's how it is for now.
Our world is upside down,
Out of kilter, out of sense;
God is a witless clown
And Clio* far too dense:
But that won't allways be.
We will rise again:
Civilisation yet will win!
* The goddess of History