The Cry for Justice: An Anthology of the Literature of Social Protest / The writings of philosophers, poets, novelists, social reformers, and others who have voiced the struggle against social injustice; selected from twenty-five languages; covering a period of five thousand years

by Unknown

Thy word was passed to set men free?

The nineteenth wave of the ages rolls

Now deathward since thy death and birth.

Hast thou fed full men’s starved-out souls?

Hast thou brought freedom upon earth?

Or are there less oppressions done

In this wild world under the sun?

Nay, if indeed thou be not dead,

Before thy terrene shrine be shaken,

Look down, turn usward, bow thine head;