Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, LAMENT OF A SUBWAYITE, by EUGENE GLADSTONE O'NEILL


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

LAMENT OF A SUBWAYITE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: When I consider the many hours spent
Last Line: They also pay who only stand and hang.'
Subject(s): Lament; Milton, John (1608-1674)


When I consider the many hours spent
As suff'ring on the Subway trains I ride,
And stand, and hang, and vainly seek to hide
My feet beneath the cross seats to prevent
The colored lady tall and corpulent
Who wheezes with exhaustion at my side
From crushing them beneath her massive stride
And maiming me before her swift descent —

Great words of fury sputter in my brain
And I am tempted to cry out in heat
'A seat! A seat! My kingdom for a seat!
Why should I bend and break beneath the strain?'
Methinks I hear the song the harsh wheels sang:
'They also pay who only stand and hang.'





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