As I walked down the waterside This silent morning, wet and dark; Before the cocks in farmyards crowed, Before the dogs began to bark; Before the hour of five was struck By old Westminster's mighty clock: As I walked down the waterside This morning, in the cold damp air, I saw a hundred women and men Huddled in rags and sleeping there: These people have no work, thought I, And long before their time they die. That moment, on the waterside, A lighted car came at a bound; I looked inside, and saw a score Of pale and weary men that frowned; Each man sat in a huddled heap, Carried to work while fast asleep. Ten cars rushed down the waterside Like lighted coffins in the dark; With twenty dead men in each car, That must be brought alive by work: These people work too hard, thought I, And long before their time they die. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A STRANGE MEETING by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES TO ONE IN BEDLAM by ERNEST CHRISTOPHER DOWSON THE RABBIT by ELIZABETH MADOX ROBERTS SING-SONG; A NURSERY RHYME BOOK: 30 by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI EMBLEMS OF LOVE: 15. RATHER DEEDS THAN WORDS by PHILIP AYRES TO A WITHERED ROSE by JOHN KENDRICK BANGS IN VINCULIS; SONNETS WRITTEN IN AN IRISH PRISON: THE COURT OF PENANCE by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT |