The Unleashed Gods
by Percy Shaw
Iron and rock are our slaves;
We are liege to marble and steel;
We go our ways through our purse-proud days,
Lifting our voices in self-proud praise---
Forgetting the God at the wheel.

We build our bulwarks of stone,
Skyscraper and culvert and tower,
Till the God of Flood, keen-nosed for blood,
Drags our monuments into the mud,
In the space of a red-eyed hour.Kings of the oceans are we,With our liners of rocket speed,Till the God of Ice, in mist-filled trice,Calls to us harshly to pay his priceAs we sink to the deep-sea weed.Muscle and brain are our slaves;We are liege to iron and steel;But who shall say, tomorrow, today,That we shall not halt on our onward wayTo bow to the God at the wheel?