Coming by night, furtively, one by one
 They infiltrate according to the Plan,
 Their orders memorized and their disguise
 Impenetrable. With the rising sun
 Our citizens welcome them. Nobody can
 Think that such charming creatures might be spies.

 So feeble, so helpless, no one could suspect
 They come to make this commonwealth their prey;
 So few, they pose no threat; their cohort grows
 So imperceptibly that we neglect
 To notice how it musters day by day
 And, unalarmed, we watch as they impose

 Themselves, make friends in all directions, take
 Impressions of all keys. They gain access
 To all our secrets; learn to speak our tongue
 Like natives; profit by each false move we make;
 Work on our weaknesses; observe and guess
 The sources of power and study them to be strong.

 And when it happens, there will be no fuss,
 No streets running with blood, no barricade.
 We shall simply wake one morning to discover,
 As those who ruled this city before us
 Found by each door a headstone and a spade,
 That a new generation has taken over.