Edwin Arlington Robinson
Demos II
So little have you seen of what awaits
       &nbsp Your fevered glimpse of a democracy
       &nbsp Confused and foiled with an equality
Not equal to the envy it creates,
That you see not how near you are the gates
       &nbsp Of an old king who listens fearfully
       &nbsp To you that are outside and are to be
The noisy lords of imminent estates.


Rather be then your prayer that you shall have
       &nbsp Your kingdom undishonored. Having all,
       &nbsp See not the great among you for the small,
But hear their silence; for the few shall save
       &nbsp The many, or the many are to fall —
Still to be wrangling in a noisy grave.