Civilization
| Author | Oppenheim, James |
|---|---|
| Genre | Poetry |
| Journal or Book | Songs for the New Era |
| Publisher | The Century Co. |
| Year of Publication | 1914 |
| Pages | 9-10 |
| Additional information | - |
CIVILIZATION!
Everybody kind and gentle, and men giving up
their seats in the car for the women...
What an ideal!
How bracing!
Is this what we want?
Have so many generations lived and died for this?
There have been Crusades, persecutions, wars, and
majestic arts,
There have been murders and passions and horrors
since man was in the jungle...
What was this blood-toll for?
Just so that everybody could have a full belly and be
well-mannered?
But let us not fool ourselves:
This civilization is mostly varnish very thinly laid
on...
Take any newspaper any morning: scan through
it...
Rape, murder, villany, and picking and stealing:
The mob that tore a negro to pieces, the men that
ravished a young girl:
The safe-blowing gang and the fat cowardly promoter
who stole people’s savings...
Just scan it through: this news of civilization....
Away then, with soft ideals:
Brace yourself with bitterness:
A drink of that biting liquor, the Truth...
Let us not be afraid of ourselves, but face ourselves
and confess what we are:
Let us go backward a while that we may go forward:
This is an excellent age for insurrection, revolt, and
the reddest of revolutions.
