When the Leaves Come Out/"Come Unto Me..."
"COME UNTO ME..."
(New York, 1914)
The night we came from out the drifting snow
The winds were bitter and the streets were drear;
You drove us forth who knew not where to go.
We homeless "bums" had watched the blizzard grow—
The ghastliest and wildest of the year—
The night we came from out the drifting snow.
But how could God's anointed ever know
What Hunger means when Want and Cold are near—
You drove us forth who knew not where to go.
We knew your piety for empty show,
But still your pillared church was warm with cheer
The night we came from out the drifting snow.
Some day an earth-uprooting storm may blow
Your haughty temples full of screaming fear—
You drove us forth who knew not where to go!
Then you'll remember how you scoffed at woe
And met a plea for shelter with a sneer.
The night we came from out the drifting snow
You drove us forth who knew not where to go!
