#title Anarchy
#author John Henry Mackay
#SORTtopics poetry, Libertarian Labyrinth
#date 1888
#source https://www.libertarian-labyrinth.org/anarchist-beginnings/john-henry-mackay-anarchy/
#lang en
#pubdate 2020-06-11T09:40:55


Ever reviled, accursed, ne’er understood,<br>
     Thou art the grisly terror of our age.<br>
“Wreck of all order,” cry the multitude,<br>
     “Art thou, and war and murder’s endless rage.”<br>
O, let them cry. To them that ne’er have striven<br>
     The truth that lies behind a word to find,<br>
To them the word’s right meaning was not given.<br>
     They shall continue blind among the blind.<br>
But thou, O word, so clear, so strong, so pure,<br>
     Thou sayest all which I for goal have taken.<br>
I give thee to the future! Thine secure<br>
     When each at least unto himself shall waken.<br>
Comes it in sunshine? In the tempest’s thrill?<br>
     I cannot tell—but it the earth shall see!<br>
I am an Anarchist! Wherefore I will<br>
     Not rule, and also ruled I will not be!