A STATESMAN is an easy man, <br />He tells his lies by rote; <br />A journalist makes up his lies <br />And takes you by the throat; <br />So stay at home' and drink your beer <br />And let the neighbours' vote, <br /> <br />Said the man in the golden breastplate <br />Under the old stone Cross. <br /> <br />Because this age and the next age <br />Engender in the ditch, <br />No man can know a happy man <br />From any passing wretch; <br />If Folly link with Elegance <br />No man knows which is which, <br /> <br />Said the man in the golden breastplate <br />Under the old stone Cross. <br /> <br />But actors lacking music <br />Do most excite my spleen, <br />They say it is more human <br />To shuffle, grunt and groan, <br />Not knowing what unearthly stuff <br />Rounds a mighty scene, <br /> <br />Said the man in the golden breastplate <br />Under the old stone Cross.<br /><br />William Butler Yeats<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-old-stone-cross/
