Page:The cry for justice - an anthology of the literature of social protest. - (IA cryforjusticea00sinc).pdf/46

 I saw half-naked men Made thralls to flame and steam, Whose bodies, dripping sweat, Shone with an oily gleam.

There, all the sullen night, While waves boomed overhead And smote the lurching ship, The ravenous fires they fed;

They did not think it brave: They even dared to joke! I saw them light their pipes And puff calm rings of smoke!

I saw a Passer sprawl Over his load of coal— At which a Fireman laughed Until it shook his soul:

All this in a hollow shell Whose half-submerged form On Lake Superior tossed 'Mid rushing hills of storm!

Six days shalt thou labor and do all thou art able, The seventh, holystone the deck and scrub the cable.