Tommaso Campanella (1568–1639)

Translated by John Addington Symonds

THE PEOPLE is a beast of muddy brain

That knows not its own force, and therefore stands

Loaded with wood and stone; the powerless hands

Of a mere child guide it with bit and rein:

One kick would be enough to break the chain;

But the beast fears, and what the child demands,

It does; nor its own terror understands,

Confused and stupefied by bugbears vain.

Most wonderful! with its own hand it ties

And gags itself—gives itself death and war

For pence doled out by kings from its own store.

Its own are all things between earth and heaven;

But this it knows not; and if one arise

To tell this truth, it kills him unforgiven.