Lies
Reading edition
Lies
I
Come, lie to us, let us glow;
Pour out the red wine; speak;
Pour out the sweet lies—so
We shall be warm and sleek.
Tell us in manner high
The flattering things that soothe;
But hush the outer cry
And crush the inner truth.
What matters all the din
Of truth—discordant cries?
We quaff the joyous wine
And lap ourselves in lies.
The lordly anthem peals
The while the people rot;
The gilded church reveals
The penury of their lot.
No matter—let them starve!
The gorgeous mass atones;
These glorious arches serve
To sepulchre their bones.
Come, hymn the dying wretch
With pæans on the harps;
Nard and vermilion fetch
To paint and scent the corpse.
II
Into the hand of man,
When by the gods first form’d,
They gave this talisman,
The dull stone Reason, arm’d
With which to brave the skies
And make the earth his throne.
But to his infant eyes
A brighter treasure shone—
The tinsel Fancy, flame
Illusive; and alas,
He flung away the gem
And took the glittering glass.
III
Vain, vain the visions—vain,
Dreams that intoxicate
In the dark day when men
Come face to face with fate.
Not out of knowledge grown
The empty dogmas rise,
But gilded bubbles blown
From the foul froth of lies.
Cease! Let the lies be hurl’d
Back to the darkling past.
Truth, only, saves the world,
And Science rules the vast.