Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, WE HAVE DREAMED TOO MUCH OF GOLD, by HARRY RANDOLPH BLYTHE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

WE HAVE DREAMED TOO MUCH OF GOLD, by                    
First Line: We have followed the monster mammon on the broad
Last Line: While out in the lovelit gardens the lonely roses blow.
Subject(s): Dreams; Gold; Money; Nightmares


WE have followed the monster Mammon on the broad way far too long,
With lilt and gilt we have worshiped him with many a ribald song,
We have drunk of wine too deeply and dreamed too much of gold,
Till our dearest idols are broken and our heroes are ages old;
Sheer to the shrine of our temples the money-changers call,
The glitter of gold hath driven us mad, and still made us cowards all;
Yet still in American meadows the daisy nods and blows,
And still in the lovelit gardens blossoms the summer rose.

We are out on the brazen highway where the Roman rabble went,
Pursuing a phantom happiness with no thought to repent;
It is hats off to the captain, whose treasuries hold the most,
Though he has ground the glint of them out of a human host;
We have crowned the man of Mammon with a golden aureole,
But have made no move or mention to ask if he hath a soul;
The people are grim applauders at the nation's gilded show,
While out in the lovelit gardens the lonely roses blow.





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