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!