PROUD is the state of its millions of men, <br />And proud is the state of its name; <br />In its borders are masters of brush and of pen, <br />And wide as the world is its fame. <br />It stands for the best of the blood of the years, <br />Yet an eye for an eye is its way, <br />And there at the base of its progress appears <br />The chamber of murder today. <br /> <br />It has fashioned the visions of ages long gone, <br />What were dreams of the past now are real; <br />Its deserts and hills men have builded upon <br />Great structures of stone and of steel. <br />It is proud of its colleges, splendid and true, <br />Where its youth obtain learning and skill; <br />It has turned from the old to the glorious new, <br />But the death house is part of it still. <br /> <br />It boasts of its work in humanity's cause, <br />Of its churches with steeples and domes; <br />And proudly it tells of its numberless laws <br />That safeguard its millions of homes. <br />It has stretched out its hand to the child of the mill, <br />It has led him from labor to play; <br />Yet the chamber of death is a part of it still, <br />And some one must murder for pay. <br /> <br />Choking rabbi and priest mutter fear-stifled prayers <br />To the great God of mercy above <br />As the ominous footfalls are heard on the stairs, <br />And ask Him for mercy and love. <br />Oh, mockery! Asking the Master to show <br />Compassion, when ye of the state <br />Stand up and insist on a blow for a blow, <br />And murder in legalized hate! <br /> <br />Oh, mockery! Asking the good God to spare <br />This man on the brink of the grave, <br />That ye, as a state, by your actions declare <br />Ye haven't found worthy to save. <br />Ye have shaken the fetters of ages long gone, <br />Ye have risen in glory and gain; <br />How long must the God of us all look upon <br />The chamber of death ye maintain?<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/capital-punishment-9/
