I <br /> <br />I traversed a dominion <br />Whose spokesmen spake out strong <br />Their purpose and opinion <br />Through pulpit, press, and song. <br />I scarce had means to note there <br />A large-eyed few, and dumb, <br />Who thought not as those thought there <br />That stirred the heat and hum. <br /> <br />II <br /> <br />When, grown a Shade, beholding <br />That land in lifetime trode, <br />To learn if its unfolding <br />Fulfilled its clamoured code, <br />I saw, in web unbroken, <br />Its history outwrought <br />Not as the loud had spoken, <br />But as the mute had thought.<br /><br />Thomas Hardy<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/mute-opinion/
