12. And with glorious triumph, they Rode through England proud and gay, Drunk as with intoxication Of the wine of desolation. 13. O'er fields and towns, from sea to sea, _50 Passed the Pageant swift and free, Tearing up, and trampling down; Till they came to London town. 14. And each dweller, panic-stricken, Felt his heart with terror sicken _55 Hearing the tempestuous cry Of the triumph of Anarchy. 15. For with pomp to meet him came, Clothed in arms like blood and flame, The hired murderers, who did sing _60 'Thou art God, and Law, and King. 16. 'We have waited, weak and lone For thy coming, Mighty One! Our purses are empty, our swords are cold, Give us glory, and blood, and gold.' _65 17. Lawyers and priests, a motley crowd, To the earth their pale brows bowed; Like a bad prayer not over loud, Whispering--'Thou art Law and God.'-- 18. Then all cried with one accord, _70 'Thou art King, and God, and Lord; Anarchy, to thee we bow, Be thy name made holy now!' 19. And Anarchy, the Skeleton, Bowed and grinned to every one, _75 As well as if his education Had cost ten millions to the nation. 20. For he knew the Palaces Of our Kings were rightly his; His the sceptre, crown, and globe, _80 And the gold-inwoven robe. 21. So he sent his slaves before To seize upon the Bank and Tower, And was proceeding with intent To meet his pensioned Parliament _85 22. When one fled past, a maniac maid, And her name was Hope, she said: But she looked more like Despair, And she cried out in the air: 23. 'My father Time is weak and gray _90 With waiting for a better day; See how idiot-like he stands, Fumbling with his palsied hands! 24. 'He has had child after child, And the dust of death is piled _95 Over every one but me-- Misery, oh, Misery!' 25. Then she lay down in the street, Right before the horses' feet, Expecting, with a patient eye, _100 Murder, Fraud, and Anarchy. 26. When between her and her foes A mist, a light, an image rose, Small at first, and weak, and frail Like the vapour of a vale: _105 27. Till as clouds grow on the blast, Like tower-crowned giants striding fast, And glare with lightnings as they fly, And speak in thunder to the sky, 28. It grew--a Shape arrayed in mail _110 Brighter than the viper's scale, And upborne on wings whose grain Was as the light of sunny rain. 29. On its helm, seen far away, A planet, like the Morning's, lay; _115 And those plumes its light rained through Like a shower of crimson dew.