Page:The cry for justice - an anthology of the literature of social protest. - (IA cryforjusticea00sinc).pdf/68

 "Work—work—work Till the brain begins to swim! Work—work—work  Till the eyes are heavy and dim! Seam, and gusset, and band,  Band, and gusset, and seam,— Till over the buttons I fall asleep,  And sew them on in a dream!

"O Men, with sisters dear! O Men, with mothers and wives! It is not linen you're wearing out,  But human creatures' lives!    Stitch—stitch—stitch  In poverty, hunger, and dirt,— Sewing at once, with a double thread,  A shroud as well as a Shirt!

"But why do I talk of Death— That phantom of grisly bone? I hardly fear his terrible shape,  It seems so like my own— It seems so like my own  Because of the fasts I keep; O God! that bread should be so dear,  And flesh and blood so cheap!

"Work—work—work! My labor never flags; And what are its wages? A bed of straw,  A crust of bread—and rags. That shattered roof—and this naked floor—  A table—a broken chair— And a wall so blank my shadow I thank  For something falling there!