Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, FOLLIES OF THE DAY, A SATIRE, SELECTION, by F. O. SAYLES


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

FOLLIES OF THE DAY, A SATIRE, SELECTION, by                    
First Line: Whoe'er surveys the conduct of mankind
Last Line: Let satire paint them for the public scorn.
Subject(s): American Civil War; Mankind; Nations; Truth; U.s. - History; Human Race


Whoe'er surveys the conduct of mankind,
With purpose just, and independent mind,
Sees motives that inspired and wrought the plan
Of deeds to bless the countless race of man,
And oft, the annals in the book of Fame,
Tinged deep with folly, wickedness or shame.

To praise, or flatter, is an easy task,
And welcome often, -- but to strip the mask
From crime, depravity, blind selfishness,
And in true colors, paint them with success --
To face the guilty and to make them feel
Remorse, or shame, requires the nerve of steel
And censure strong, sustained by sense and skill,
To reach the object, and its aim fulfill.
The pen of fiction wins insensate youth --
Manhood can prize the golden pen of Truth.

Now to my task. -- What conscience shall indite,
Satiric Muse, I ask thy aid to write.
From flowery landscape and the starry skies,
From mossy cascade, shut my longing eyes, --
From the soft flutter of the Zephyr's wing
That fans to sleep the infant of the king --
From realms of fancy, where the willing sense
Revels, till judgment loses competence,
Or Beauty sits enthroned in matchless might,
To woo and fasten the admirer's sight,
Keep me; but show me follies of the day,
To lash or ridicule, as best I may.

With men, a common object of pursuit
That yields a precious or a poisoned fruit,
Ripe throughout Christendom, and made to be
The bond of modern Aristocracy,
Is wealth; a blessing, were it rightly used,
A curse most damning, when it is abused.

Exact economy and constant care,
Virtues commendable, as well as rare,
With industry produce possessions vast,
That make men heirs to fortune -- while they last!
Though all acquired by truly honest gain,
Amassed, are suffered briefly to remain;
For, a wise Providence whose eye surveys
Man in his thoughts, intents, and all his ways
Will break the IDOL, -- a mysterious fate
All titles change, or sever his estate --
The vault where hoarded treasure lay untold,
Will yield to other hands, the heaps of gold!
These are not riches, ever to endure --
Not incorruptible, abiding, pure.

To prove that wealth affords no happiness,
Or, that it always makes enjoyment less,
Is not a problem for solution here; --
What truth sustains, is ALL that shall appear.
It needs no labored argument to show
What all intelligent observers know,
That wealth and wisdom go not hand in hand,
But may exist apart, in every land.
If Solomon of old the two possessed,
Few, since his time, have equally been blessed;
Many will seek and gain the large estate,
And claim a rank among the truly great;
Look now for WISDOM with unceasing care,
And found, give credit for it, any-where.

Wealth is the fruitful mother of pretence --
Excessive vanity and insolence,
And pride that swells into dimensions vast,
Forgetful of the present and the past!
It is a cloak to cover many sins --
Its glitter many a weak admirer wins, --
Its power to bribe -- to awe the faint, conceals
What poverty to public view reveals, --
It is a tyrant to oppress the slave,
The just to punish, and the guilty save;
And shameful follies swell the lengthy train,
That cause HUMANITY to writhe in pain.
Dear modern CROESUS, labor still to gain
What yet can make your progeny more vain,
And nurture habits, you and all despise,
To be a PANORAMA for your eyes;
Yes, squander industry and gather pelf,
To make a son, more wretched than yourself, --
An idler, spendthrift, drunkard, Folly's fool,
Or leading scholar in her crowded school!

Why tempt a daughter, beautiful and young,
Whose promise moves to praise, each worthy tongue,
Her mind, unsullied, plastic, ardent, free,
A fair abode for ANGEL purity,
To be seduced by vanity's display,
And ruined by the vices of the day?
Or, won by show, to smother sober sense --
Try modes of life where luxuries commence,
And in their course a destiny fulfill,
Whose end is fated to torment, or kill,
Enfeeble, or distort proportions fair,
Which nature had designed and formed with care.
What dangers lurk around the home of wealth!
What trouble enters on the steps of stealth!

Ye who have millions, soberly reflect,
That cause will have legitimate effect,
And then believe the evidence of truth,
That riches will corrupt both age and youth;
That from this source, can spring no lasting joy,
The wise, for good, will better means employ;
They shun temptation when the way is plain,
Nor let resistance meet the foe in vain.
The pious Rich a modest hint deserve,
Who, tempted, from the path of duty swerve,
Moved by desire for earthly goods, will make
Digressions slight, for "filthy lucre's sake."
Transparent is their effort to deceive
Those who have sight and reason to believe.
"Vile self creeps in" behind profession's veil,
And clothes the inner man with worldly mail,
Which will not shield the soul from avarice,
Nor blind the mortal eye by artifice.

Why try to crowd your burdened coffers still?
Why seek your sated treasury to fill?
Why covet more than will your wants supply,
To ruin half your heirs before you die?
If it be true, that two and two make four,
The more you get, increases want for more.
You thirst, yet have a fountain for supply,
And, drink the ocean, you will still be dry;
In bondage -- likely never to be free,
For MAMMON holds your moral destiny!
The fear of poverty and love of gain,
Compose the links in his satanic chain.

To-day, in this "Sweet Land of Liberty,"
Where all may worship God with conscience free --
Where Gospel light illumes the wide extent,
And calls mankind to sorrow, and repent --
Their sins forsake, and in salvation joy --
To hope for peace unmingled with alloy; --
Where congregations to the Temples flock,
To build their faith on the Eternal Rock,
Pride shows her power, e'en in that sacred place,
Amid the humble suppliants for Grace;
And, at the Master's table fills a seat,
Where meek, devout, adopted Christians meet!

There is an Eye whose universal ken
Beholds the dark hypocrisy of men!
The grosser forms, unscreened by shades of night,
Are seen with human eyes in solar light.
That stolen garb of SANCTITY ill fits
The shriveled, hideous form of hypocrites.
What deep excitement marks the fleeting hour,
And stirs the Empire city by its power;
Frauds, perjuries, and forgeries are rife,
Reported of the ranks in upper life!
The swollen, shining bubble now has burst!
The public sees iniquity accursed.
The golden speculations of our time,
Unveil their hidden elements of crime;
Still, in that trade the speculator shares,
A combat fierce engages "Bulls and Bears."

The morals, peeping from behind the screen,
Show BUSINESS ladies, acting in the scene,
Who keep important secrets dark as night,
Till time and truth expose them to the light.
So goes the world, -- some art to trick the just, --
To circumvent them, and obtain their trust!
The Saviour had not where to lay his head;
And yet, of poverty He had no dread!
And wise, old Agur, whose unbiassed sense
Taught him right views of man and Providence,
Devoid of selfishness and pride, could see
That riches fostered wicked vanity,
And held dominion o'er the mental whole,
To shut the humane fountains of the soul.

Thank God, he made his blessings to depend
On laws man cannot alter or amend.
Both mind and body gain what will suffice
For health and strength, from food and exercise, --
From heat and cold, from sunshine, rain and air, --
From clothing, shelter, sleep, and prudent care, --
From proper use of all the aids of life, --
From shunning evil and excessive strife, --
From knowledge, whence the mind true wisdom draws, --
From Revelation, and from Nature's laws.
The plainest logic prove [sic] to common sense,
That PLENTY is a needful competence.

* * *

The drunkard, what a wreck for man to see!
What profanation of the Deity! --
He once had appetites controlled by sense,
(He may have been a man of eminence!)
His youth gave hopeful promise, while he trod
The path of soberness, ordained of God,
Till wrong indulgence overcame, at last,
His judgment, and the evil held him fast.
Then Ruin sternly stared him in the face,
And wrote upon his countenance, DISGRACE.
The dram-shop, and the brothel claimed him soon
As patron, and his sun went down at noon.

Now drunkards meet the eye, on either hand,
In every town and city in the land.
The deadly poison fires the victims' blood,
And sweeps them to destruction like a flood;
While in their mad career with conscience blind,
Brain seethed, and passion wholly unconfined,
Reason dethroned, or wandering in doubt,
The image of their God, all blotted out!
Infernal in appearance, and disgust,
Objects of terror, pity, or distrust,
With alcoholic eloquence they rail
At all who would their liberty assail;
When drunk, to break the peace at any time;
To mangle, murder, perpetrate all crime, --
The right to use the pistol, bowie-knife,
As lawful weapons in the creed of life,
And ply the lighted torch at midnight hour,
As a convenient and effectual power
To give redress, for some imagined wrong,
And prove that honor feels resentment strong! --
When drunkards in philosophy excel,
Mind will be tenant of the oyster-shell!

There is a sight, no pen can well portray,
No artist give it form, nor speech convey
A just conception, but a semblance slight, --
The view alone, discovers it aright --
The female tippler, who defames the name
Of woman, and becomes a loathsome shame.
From her exalted sphere of usefulness,
Assigned by gracious Heaven her race to bless,
She is transformed to fiend! Another worse
Ne'er left the lowest hell, a world to curse.

In every place where appetites abound,
Dens for infernal commerce may be found;
There, daily, nightly, sots will congregate
To settle questions that concern the State!
To purchase wretchedness, and put in use
The latest modes of personal abuse, --
To give the countenance a lovely air,
By using a cosmetic that will wear! --
To get the marks of valor in a fight
For mastery, as well as private right, --
To prove, as clearly as example can,
THAT ELEGANCE OF DRESS NE'ER MADE A MAN, --
To demonstrate how tender he must be,
Who treats his household with barbarity! --
To furnish paupers for the Town or State,
And for the prisons, subjects fit create, --
To show, this pleasant world is not a cheat,
But makes the destiny of man complete.

Shall crime increase and folly mark the age,
The laws be passive when disorders rage?
Will RULERS of the State and men in power,
Submit to bear the evils of the hour,
And wink at morals, growing in our time,
Which lead directly to acknowledged crime?

Where are the men of character and might,
Who value order and the public right? --
A few reformers, eloquent and brave,
Still labor with a zeal and will to save
The youth from drunkenness, and stay the tide
Of misery, now rolling far and wide.
Where is that army, once so valiant, strong,
That battled with success the mighty wrong,
And held in check its progress in that day?
Demoralized, retired, o'ercome by false dismay!

They who are cowards in a moral cause,
And fear to execute remedial laws,
From righteous censure cannot be exempt;
The guilty, even, hold them in contempt.
They are accountable before that bar,
Where conscience reigns and tells them, what they are.

You, who eschew intoxicating drink,
Have eyes to see, and brains enough to think;
Who make professions with a heart sincere,
And sign a creed to which you will adhere,
For human welfare earnestly contend,
To save a neighbor, family, or friend;
Go forth to duty, -- let your motto be,
'War on the curse to all humanity.'

Can men, who once have loathed the very sight
Of the foul demon, stalking day and night,
Through all their borders, dealing woe or death,
To hopeless victims, breathe his fetid breath,
Mixed with the sweet, and wholesome, vital air,
And not detect his presence any-where?

Physicians hold, that they who would be cured,
To faith in remedies must be allured.
Faith works by love, the SACRED truth declares,
Why may it not, in temporal affairs?
Love changes taste, as every-body knows --
Why should it not make friends of former foes?
And is it not, at least, a prudent thought,
(Since the true Panacea may be bought,)
To keep at hand, a curative of pain,
Prepared for use, delectable and plain?
One, which will make us young when we are old;
When cold, will warm us, and will make us cold?
This is fair logic, -- cultured minds can see
What is embraced in Physiology!
The crafty fiend has a peculiar charm,
Whereby he can his enemy disarm,
And make him liege, if he be weak, by art
Which bribes the stomach, spoils the brain and heart,
Subdues the minor organs, more remote,
Unseats the reason, sets the man afloat.
In his strange bark upon the seething tide,
From a due course, he often wanders wide;
Near shore, the ground-swells to his vision rise;
Then, in the vessel on "beam-ends," he lies.
In life's short voyage, wherever he may float,
For pains, he takes the spirit-antidote.
You who profess the virtue, abstinence,
Who drink the secret cup with false pretence
Of some dire ailment, or expectant ill,
A cough, a swoon, a fever, or a chill!
When under pledge, may pass awhile, as true,
But honest men will soon discover you;
When all exposed, you find no one deceived, --
What you professed, the world had disbelieved.
Then comes the sentence to remain through time,
Due perpetrators of fool-hardy crime:
That such impostors take cognomen fit,
Which is no synonyme of hypocrite.
Let drunkards blush to feel the deep disgrace
Of such deception in the human race!

Of all the beings living on the earth,
Since Eve was formed, and man had proper birth,
The arch dissembler with his double face,
Is qualified to fill an honored place,
Where shame, deceit, contempt and folly dwell,
In that dark region, proximate to hell.

* * *

That bloody field, spread out in great extent,
Embracing half of one vast Continent,
Affords a theme for the pathetic muse,
And matter which the Satirist may use.

See! rightful order into ruin hurled, --
The sight -- the thought has shocked the very world!
A nation drenched in blood by civil war;
Not by a foreign power, but angry jar,
Dividing subjects into factions strong, --
One, branding human bondage as a wrong, --
One, claiming human flesh! -- At length, the strife
Warmed into treason and conspired the life
Of that Republic, destined at its birth,
To be the model government of earth.

The union of the States, which blood had bought,
To sunder, made Rebellion vainly sought. --
Its hellish enginery caused blood to flow,
And fill the land with mourning and with woe; --
It wasted treasure, and it slew the brave!
Yet, loyal patriots had power to save
The sacred bond, the adamantine chain,
Unbroken, -- and the triumph will remain,
The proudest monument of ages past,
And, to the end of time, shall all its glory last.
Graved on this monument by Time's own hand,
In characters that all may understand,
Is this important lesson for mankind
To read, believe, and treasure in the mind:
That Government its end will best fulfill,
Whose basis is the free and sovereign will
Of loyal subjects; and their power alone,
Makes a Republic stronger than a throne.

Here, Justice, bodied from a true design,
Is plainly wrought, and perfect in its line --
The figure of a man, whose countenance
Betrays the sculptor's purpose at a glance.
The right hand holds a dark and lengthy scroll,
Entitled, "Treason's Famous Muster-Roll;" --
The left displays a Record, brief and plain,
Which shows a Nation's loss and Freedom's gain!
In all the past, no parallel appears;
It may lie hidden in the coming years.
Now they who thither turn their eyes, may see
Rebellion's rise, and fall, and infamy!
That martyred Chief, -- the climax of its crime, --
A sin and folly that will live through time! --
THE FATE OF REBELS! once successful, free, --
THE DUSKY MILLIONS' ENTREE INTO LIBERTY!

* * *

Extravagance in modes of life and dress --
Pursuit of wealth to gain true happiness --
False taste in literature and love of show --
A style of morals, ranging far too low! --
Intemperance, hypocrisy, and fraud
Astounding in its nature, deep and broad --
The people, careless of the public weal,
To private interest, alive with zeal,
The dupes of demagogues who thrive by tricks,
Concealed with skill in party politics --
A vanity, imposing its displays
Of silly weakness in unnumbered ways, --
These glaring follies bear important sway,
And stain the public character to-day.

Why censure Folly, now as old as Time,
And lash her wickedness in sounding rhyme?
Her progeny is countless as the face
Of man, and quite as difficult to trace.
Since Adam's sin, the broods of lighter stain
Have multiplied -- increasing, they remain.
The grade of each is only known to fate --
Man separates the little and the great;
So subtle the gradations run between,
By mortal ken they cannot all be seen:
Would that the greater might be growing less,
The less, decreasing into nothingness.
All crimes are follies, not all follies crimes,
Else, how could Heaven's dread vengeance spare our times?

The Artist sets the picture in a light,
Where its position will afford a sight
Of all the beauties which his art has made,
And leave defects concealed beneath the shade.
The honest satirist will use his skill,
To reach the fountains of the heart and will, --
To place the human conduct in the light
Of Truth's pure sunshine, and in colors bright,
That when unmantled, every eye may see
In crime or folly, bare deformity; --
How evil passion urges on to sin,
Grows strong, and claims the mastery within, --
How Folly flutters in the public gaze,
And shows her weakness in a thousand ways,
That drowsy conscience, stirred to life by pain,
May choke these ills and reign supreme again.
It has not dawned, that day of sacred feast,
When crimes or follies of mankind have ceased;
Till then, so long as moral ills are born,
Let Satire paint them for the public scorn.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net