Conservative Central

Home       About CC       What is Conservatism?       Articles       Links

James Brunton Stephens (1835-1902) was an Australian poet of the nineteenth century. His poem The Gentle Anarchist takes a swipe at radicals whose pacifism embraces animals but not humans.

Anarchists of the late nineteenth century were renowned for their violence.
In 1881 anarchists assassinated the Russian Czar (killing 21 bystanders in the process); in 1886 they killed seven police officers at Haymarket Square in Chicago; in 1894 they assassinated the French President; and in 1901 they murdered the King of Italy and President McKinley of the US.

I am a gentle Anarchist,
I couldn't kick a dog,
Nor ever would for sport assist
To pelt the helpless frog.
I'd shoot a Czar, or wreck a train,
Blow Parliament sky-high,
But none could call me inhumane;
I wouldn't hurt a fly,
And why indeed should I?
It has neither land nor pelf
That I covet for myself,
Then wherefore should I hurt a fly?

I am a gentle Anarchist,
I live on herbs and fruits;
It don't become a communist
To eat his fellow-brutes.
I'd fire a town, upset a State,
Make countless widows weep,
Yet I am so compassionate
I wouldn't kill a sheep.
I wouldn't hurt a fly;
And why indeed should I?
If it doesn't interfere
With my personal career,
Why the dickens should I hurt a fly?

I'm such a gentle Anarchist
I hate all hunting men;
I couldn't hook a fish, or twist
The neck of cock or hen.
I'd level gaols, let scoundrels loose,
Blow priests and churches up -
But, oh, my pity's so profuse
I couldn't drown a pup.
I wouldn't hurt a fly;
And why indeed should I?
Unless, that is to say,
I found it in my way,
And then it's all up with the fly.
 

   Home          Poems