Burden Us with White Men —

Sent forth the worst who breed —
Bind our souls to exile
Captive to serve their greed;
To wait in heavy harness,
On gammoned kakistos —
Those new-right, sullen morons,
Half-devil and half-child.

Burden us with White Men —
Our patience to abide,
To yield to threat of terror
And check our show of pride;
By open speech and simple,
An hundred times made plain
To seek their own profit,
And all our work their gain.

Burden us with White Men —
Their savage wars of choice —
Fill our mouths with Famine
And bid their sickness spread;
And when our pain is greatest
The end they have sought,
Watch sloth and heathen Folly
Be all that they have wrought.

Burden us with White Men —
A tawdry rule of kings,
But toil of serf and sweeper —
The tale of common things.
The ports we shall not enter,
The roads we shall not tread,
Go make them with our living,
And mark them with our dead.

Burden us with White Men —
And reap their old reward:
The blame of those we better,
The hate of those we guard —
The cry of volk we humour
(Ah, quickly!) toward the dark: —
“Why do you complain of bondage,
Should we feast upon your blood?”

Burden us with White Men —
They dare to stoop to less —
Do not call too loud on Freedom
To cloak our weariness;
By all we cry or whisper,
By all we leave or do,
Those craven, sullen morons
Shall weigh their hate on us.

Burden us with White Men —
Have done with brighter days —
The lightly proffered laurel,
The easy, ungrudged praise.

Comes now, to search our vigour
Through all the thankless years
Cold, edged with dear-bought wisdom,
The judgment of our boors!