Classic Poem

Tell me, Thou common Father, tell me why,
(Since Thou art just and good) dost Thou permit
Successful fraud, securely throned, to sit
While innocence, oppressed, stands weeping by?
Why hast Thou nerved that strong arm to oppose
Thy righteous mandates with impunity,
While the meek man who served and reverenced Thee
Lies at the feet of Thine and virtues's foes?

Why (said I, in despair) should vice confound
All nature's harmony, and tower above
In all the pomp, and pride, and power of state?
Then I looked upwards—and I heard a sound
As from an angel, smiling through heaven's gate,
“Is earth a spot for heaven-born souls to love?”