Pity the Nation

Pity the Nation

Pity the nation that is full of beliefs and empty of religion;
Pity the nation that wears a cloth it does not weave;
That eats a bread it does not harvest;
Pity the nation that acclaims the bully as hero;
Pity the nation that despises a passion in its dreams,
yet submits in its awakening;
Pity the nation that raises not its voice save when it walks in a funeral;
That boasts not except among its ruins;
Pity the nation that will rebel not save when its neck is laid between the sword and the block;
Pity the nation whose statesman is a fox, whose philosopher is a juggler, and whose art is the art of patching and mimicking;< br>
Pity the nation that welcomes its new ruler with trumpeting, and farewells him with hootings,
only to welcome another with trumpeting again;
Pity the nation divided into fragments,
each fragment deeming itself a nation.

- Khalil Gibran