From Edward Carpenter's 1878 Poem
TOWARD DEMOCRACY
The old structures can no longer stand —
their very foundations are shifted —
And men run forth in terror from the old before they
can yet find firm ground for the new.
The ground of society cracking, the fire showing through,
The old ties giving way beneath the strain, and the
great pent heart heaving as though it would break —
At the sound of the new word spoken —
At the sound of the word -- Democracy.
No volcano bursting up through peaceful pastures is a greater revolution than this ;
No vast mountain chain thrown out from ocean depths
to form the primitive streak of a new continent looks further down the future;
For this is lava springing out of the very heart of Man ;
This is the upheaval of heaven-kissing summits whose streams shall feed the farthest generations,
This is the draft and outline of a new creature,
The forming of the wings of Man beneath the outer husk —
The outspread pinions of Equality, arising...
