Anarchism

    RATS undermined the wall,
    And while men slept
    The floods that basin-ed in the hills, smiled at the day,
    Crept in by stealth and tore their bounds away:

    And onward swept
    Where busy towns in tranquil beauty kept
    The peace; and with the power of many waters pent
    Homes were engulfed and hills in twain were rent.
    Steeple and tower
    Fell toppling down, and in a breath
    Where happiness had dwelt, were devastation, woe and death,
    And these few words were written of the fall:

    While watchman slept
    Rats undermined the wall.

        Albert Annett