And now
a word, in uncouth rhyme
Of what shall be in future time.
Then
upside down the world shall be
And gold found at the root of tree
All England's sons that plough the land
Shall oft be seen with Book in hand.
The
poor shall now great wisdom know
Great houses stand in far-flung vale
All covered o'er with snow and hail.
A
carriage without horse will go
Disaster fill the world with woe.
In
London, Primrose Hill shall be
In centre hold a Bishop's See
Around the world men's thoughts will fly
Quick as the twinkling of an eye.
And
water shall great wonders do
How strange. And yet it shall come true.
Through
towering hills proud men shall ride
No horse or ass move by his side.
Beneath
the water, men shall walk
Shall ride, shall sleep, shall even talk.
And in the air men shall be seen
In
white and black and even green.
A great
man then, shall come and go
For prophecy declares it so.
In
water, iron, then shall float
As easy as a wooden boat
Gold shall be seen in stream and stone
In land that is yet unknown.
And
England shall admit a Jew
You think this strange, but it is true
The Jew that once was held in scorn
Shall of a Christian then be born.
A house
of glass shall come to pass
In England. But Alas, alas
A war will follow with the work
Where dwells the Pagan and the Turk.
These
states will lock in fiercest strife
And seek to take each other's life.
When
North shall thus divide the south
And Eagle build in Lion's mouth
Then tax and blood and cruel war
Shall come to every humble door.
Three
times shall lovely sunny France
Be led to play a bloody dance
Before the people shall be free
Three tyrant rulers shall she see.
Three
rulers in succession be
Each springs from different dynasty.
Then
when the fiercest strife is done
England and France shall be as one.
The
British olive shall next then twine
In marriage with a German vine.
Men
walk beneath and over streams
Fulfilled shall be their wondrous dreams.
For in
those wondrous far off days
The women shall adopt a craze
To dress like men, and trousers wear
And to cut off their locks of hair.
They'll
ride astride with brazen brow
As witches do on broomstick now.
And
roaring monsters with man atop
Does seem to eat the verdant crop
And men shall fly as birds do now
And give away the horse and plough.
There'll be a sign for all to see
Be sure that it will certain be.
Then
love shall die and marriage cease
And nations wane as babes decrease.
And
wives shall fondle cats and dogs
And men live much the same as hogs.
In
nineteen hundred and twenty six
Build houses light of straw and sticks.
For
then shall mighty wars be planned
And fire and sword shall sweep the land.
When
pictures seem alive with movements free
When boats like fishes swim beneath the sea,
When men like birds shall scour the sky
Then half the world, deep drenched in blood shall die.
For
those who live the century through
In fear and trembling this shall do.
Flee to
the mountains and the dens
To bog and forest and wild fens.
For
storms will rage and oceans roar
When Gabriel stands on sea and shore
And as he blows his wondrous horn
Old worlds die and new be born.
A fiery
Dragon will cross the sky
Six times before this earth shall die
Mankind will tremble and frightened be
For the sixth heralds in this prophecy.
For
seven days and seven nights
Man will watch this awesome sight.
The tides will rise beyond their ken
To bite away the shores and then
The mountains will begin to roar
And earthquakes split the plain to shore.
And
flooding waters, rushing in
Will flood the lands with such a din
That mankind cowers in muddy fen
And snarls about his fellow men.