Grinning Mouths

This is what i think...

JofaGuht's explanation is correct but I believe that the idea is much bigger. The choice of using the word plague has two meaning in this line. The first explanation that JofaGuht explained was that the leaders in the Panopticon era wished for the plague as it was easier to rule with the constant threat of the plague. But if we look at the definition the dictionary states the word plagues as to "cause continual trouble or distress". So in the line "Magistrates dream of plague" what is meant is that the authority figure wants a continual cause of trouble or distress in society in order to rule with ease. The whole idea is that fear enables the government to increase authority (and human rights violations) over its citizens, or subjects. Take the attacks on the world trade centres for instance, after the atrocities every power structure in the world increased their authority over its citizens especially the United States with the creation of the Patriot Act and various wire tappings. "The plague if forced upon us all".

Now if we also look up the word loll we see it states that to loll is to "sit, lie, or stand is a lazy, relaxed way". What I think is meant when Aaron says "Tongues loll in anticipation" is that the people (tongues) are reluctant to dissent, or in other words, lazy to speak out against the government because of an increased anticipation caused by the people in power.

The line "You are awake in their darker visions" means the dreams that magistrate wishes come true and we are forced to live in them and that "drool slips from [their] grinning mouths". This is where Aaron suggests that this fear is brought on by the people who want it; that this plague is manufactured. Take the "Gulf of Tonkin incident" that brought the United States into the Vietnam war. The "Gulf of Tonkin incident" was purely made up and never happened but was claimed to have happened and used as a justification to go to war with the North Vietnamese.

The lines "Shouts of fact about / But whispers of truth burn through" are fairly self-explanatory. "Shouts of fact about" means that there are many facts given (maybe to justify this incessant surveillance) but just a few whispers of truth shine through them all.

The last line reiterates the question: is it actually there? are they really there? because of the lack of transparency in this country-wide panopticon system.