A little river flowing in the lake Vanishing in marshes up a mile or so Makes for a portage to another stream Which empties in another stream which empties Into the Mississippi. A spot between the lake and river lies Upon the highway binding east and west, And from the south and north where traders meet. This is the very place to build a fort-- The fort becomes a town within a year, A great metropolis in half a cycle. Within a lifetime you have gained Some seven million souls. The land of Luther sends a swarming host; And Milton’s land adventurous sons; And Scandinavia’s realm, And Michael Angelo’s mountains, All Europe pours her wealth Of brawn and spirit on you, Until you are an empire Of restless vital men, and teeming towns. Before you were grown rich, And populous You brightened history; Great men came from you. But now that you have cities and great treasure Where are your great ones? What is your genius? What star enwraps your eyes? What heights allure you? Hermaphroditic giant, sad and drunk Not gay, but foolish, stuffed with new baked bread, Who took away your gland pituitary, Abandoned you to such exaggerate growth Without increase of soul? You blasphemous, yet afraid, Licentious, yet ashamed, Swaggering, yet blubbering And boasting of your rights. Materialist who woos the spiritual, Who holds aloft the cross from which you’ve sold The nails to junk-men. And makes a hackle from the crown of thorns Wherewith to hackle hemp to make a rope For your own hanging in the Philippines! Who with one hand grabs off the widow’s mite, And with the other tosses golden coins Into the beggar’s cup. The black-snake whip in one hand, in the other A plentiful supply of surgeon’s tape. Oh you! A hard oppressor, charitably inclined, And keen to see and take the outward image-- Devoid of categories to reduce Its truth and meaning. No seed of old world thistles should be sown here, Or let to fly upon this soil. Yet dogma has been sown here Men rise thereby who sow the seed again; Accessory spirits keep the ground well stirred. It’s gold and then it’s power, but gold at last. And for the rest what are your dominant breeds? Smug cultures where the aggregate mind is leather Gorged with the oil respectability Impervious to thought. These pick the eunuch type as being safe, American, it’s called: Sleek, quiet, smiling, ready servitors Who for the salary, and that alone, (Require no bribes) Effect the business will.