An old, mad, blind, despised, and dying king, – Princes, the dregs of their dull race, who flow Through public scorn, – mud from a muddy spring, – Rulers who neither see, nor feel, nor know, But leech-like to their fainting country cling, Till they drop, blind in blood, without a blow, – A people starved and stabbed in the untilled field, – An army, which liberticide and prey Makes as a two-edged sword to all who wield, – Golden and sanguine laws which tempt and slay; Religion Christless, Godless – a book sealed; A Senate, – Time's worst statute unrepealed, – Are graves, from which a glorious Phantom may Burst, to illumine our tempestous day.