Working Man! whose psychic beauty (Unattainable by me) Still it is my pleasing duty Painted by your friends to see, -- You, whose virtues ne'er can bore us, Daily through their list we scan, Let me swell th' admiring chorus, Let me hymn the Working Man! You whose Leaders, highly moral, Always shocked by war's alarms, Could not in their country's quarrel Contemplate the use of arms, Yet, should strikes provide occasion, Then by higher promptings led Do with more than moral suasion Break the erring Blackleg's head: -- You, whose intellectual state is Such that you are aiming at Getting all your culture gratis (Not that you're alone in that), -- Always with the strict injunction That whate'er be false or true Every teacher's simple function Is to teach what pleases you: -- Not to gain by learned labour Any sordid @3quid pro quo@1: Not to rise above your neighbour (Comrades ne'er are treated so): Not to change your lowly station, Nor for rank and not for pelf, Academic education Only, only for itself, -- Yet in whose commercial dealings Vainly we attempt to find Those disinterested feelings Which adorn the Student's mind, -- Seeing that, O my high-souled brothers! There your dream of happiness Is (like mine, and several others) Earning more for working less! 'Tis not that I blame your getting Anything you think you can" 'Tisn't that which I'm regretting, Noble British Working Man! No -- although the facts I mention Sometimes wake a mild surprise -- Still -- the truth's beyond contention -- You are good, and great, and wise: Swell my taxes: stint my fuel: Last, to close the painful scene, Send me, rather just than cruel, Send me to the guillotine: Ere the knife bisects my spinal Cord, and ends my vital span, This shall be my utterance final, @3Bless@1 the British Working Man! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...PORPHYRIA'S LOVER by ROBERT BROWNING PROMETHEUS by JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE TRAMP, TRAMP, TRAMP by GEORGE FREDERICK ROOT TO EDWARD FITZGERALD by ALFRED TENNYSON TO BARON DE STONNE WITH AIKIN'S ESSAYS ON SONG-WRITING by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD |