Explore "England, Awake!" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
A beautiful great lady, past her prime, / Behold her dreaming in her easy chair; / Gray robed, and veiled; in laces old and rare, / Her smiling eyes see but the vanished time, / Of splendid prowess, and of deeds sublime. / Self satisfied she sits, all unaware / That peace has flown before encroaching care, / And through her halls stalks hunger, linked with crime.
England, awake! from dreams of what has been, / Look on what _is_, and put the past away. / Speak to your sons, until they understand. / England, awake! for dreaming now is sin; / In all your ancient wisdom, rise to-day, / And save the glory of your menaced land.