English poem
_King Mammon_
by Samuel R. Brown (1775–1817)
Attended by his glittering train, King Mammon drives his chariot by, Prostrate and bleeding, on the plain, His crushed, yet fawning, subjects lie.
A mighty monarch--oh, ho! ho! is he! His hand shuts like a hasp. He dictates to “the Powers that be”; The nations tremble in his grasp.
For him “the lilies of the field” Their sweetest, sacred incense yield. He labors not--why should he toil? (For him the servile millions moil!)
A tyrant old--ah, ha! ha! he is; He rules the earth, he rules the seas, The rolling planets he would chain; He robs the farmers of their grain; He cheats the worker of his wage; He whelms the peasant in his rage; The merchant’s ruin swells his gain; Beneath his chariot wheels profane Ten thousand wights each year are slain.
Kneel, then, ye hosts! Grovel on the plain! King Mammon is driving by. Behold! Thugs, cut-throats--in his train! Hands up! Yield! Deliver! or ye shall die.