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C J Dennis - The Mountain Laboured
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A patriot spake thus to an eager throng:
"Give me the power and I shall right each wrong.
And Fortune, smiling, on our land shall look" -
         His name was COOK.

Lo, I beheld, throughout a continent,
   A nation wrestle with affairs of State,
And patriotic cries, wher`er I went,
   Poured forth alike from groundlings and the great.
I heard man reason with his fellow man;
   From shore to shore rang out one mighty screech,
As, daily, from a thousand platforms ran 
   Rivers of speech.

Consul and Senator keen combat waged.
   Doctor and Saint joined hotly in the fray;
North, South and West and East the battle raged;
   And ev`ry citizen had much to say;
Bland politicians talked incessantly -
   It seemed a very battle of the gods;
Though much they said appeared to me to be
   Over the odds.

Then lo, upon the great Election Day,
   The day appointed for the mighty test,
Cab, jinker, motor-car and humble dray
   Hither and thither sped at the behest
Of rival statesmen whose bold streamers flared
   On wall and hoarding....You can guess the rest -
   `Twere easy spared.

My wife remained at home to mend my socks;
   But forth went I to claim my sovereign right,
To win my freedom at the ballot-box....
   I got back home at twelve o`clock that night.
Or was it two next morning?  I forget.
   But I had done my duty like a man:
Helped in the noblest scheme man`s fashioned yet -
   The Party Plan.

And then a solemn hush fell on the land
   (I was content, considering my head,
Next Morning).  And behold, on ev`ry hand,
   Expectancy and hope one plainly read,
Till through the land rang out the herald`s voice
   Telling the upshot of that mighty fray:
"Joseph is consul!  Citizens, rejoice!
   `Ip, `ip, `ooray!"

Rejoice I did; and my prophetic soul
   Saw for my country happiness and peace.
For he had reached at last the longed-for goal.
   Now would our corn and oil and beer increase!
What would it profit else, this strike, this pain -
   A mighty Nation shaken to its soul?
Sans good result, all hope (`twas very plain)
   Was up the pole.

Into the Hall of State I blithely went,
   Eager to hear the dignified debate -
Grave, reverend seigneurs in grave argument
   Engaged, discussing great affairs of State,
Wise counsellors....But stay!  What`s here amiss?
   Are these the honoured makers of the Law?
Now Heav`n defend our Party Plan! for this
   Is what I saw:

A yelping, clamorous, unruly clan;
A small bald, agitated, snapping man;
And, as they raved, his fist he fiercely shook -
His name was COOK.
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