The world’s mad business

The Day of Judgement

With a whirl of thought oppressed
I sink from reverie to rest.
An horrid vision seized my head,
I saw the graves give up their dead.
Jove, armed with terrors, burst the skies,
And thunder roars, & lightning flies!
Amazed, confused, its fate unknown,
The world stands trembling at his throne.
While each pale sinner hangs his head,
Jove, nodding, shook the Heavens, & said,
‘Offending race of human kind,
By nature, reason, learning, blind;
You who through frailty stepped aside,
And you who never fell – through pride;
You who in different sects have shammed,
And come to see each other damned;
(So some folks told you, but they knew
No more of Jove’s designs than you).
The world’s mad business now is o’er,
And I resent those pranks no more.
I to such blockheads set my wit!
I damn such fools! – Go, go, you’re bit.’

Jonathan Swift 1667-1745