Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, DRONE V. WORKER, by EBENEZER ELLIOTT


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

DRONE V. WORKER, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: How god speeds the tax-bribed plough
Last Line: At famine's feast, ye ken, man.
Alternate Author Name(s): Corn-law Rhymer; Elliot, Ebenezer


How God speeds the tax-bribed plough,
Fence and moor declare, man;
Where once fed the poor man's cow,
ACRES drives his share, man.
But, he did not steal the fen,
Did not steal the moor, man;
If he feeds on starving men,
Still he loves the poor, man.
Hush! he bullies state and throne,
Quids them in his jaw, man;
Thine and mine, he calls his own,
Acres' lie is law, man.
Acres eats his tax on bread,
Acres loves the plough, man;
Acres' dogs are better fed,
Beggar's slave! than thou, man.
Acres' feeder pays his debts,
Waxes thin and pale, man,
Harder works and poorer gets,
Pays his debts in jail, man.
Acres in a palace lives,
While his feeder pines, man;
Palaced beggar ne'er forgives
Dog on whom he dines, man.
Acres' feeder, beggared, begs,
Treadmill'd rogue is he, man;
Scamp! he deals in pheasants' eggs, --
Hangs on gallows-tree, man!
Who would be a useful man?
Who sell cloth, or hats, man?
Who make boiler, or mend pan?
Who keep Acres' brats, man?
Better ride, and represent --
Better borough tools, man;
Better sit in pauperment --
Better Corn-Law fools, man.
Why not right the plundered poor?
Why not use our own, man?
Plough the seas, and not the moor?
Why not pick a bone, man?
Lo, the merchant builds huge mills, --
Bread-taxed thinks, and sighs, man!
Thousand mouths and bellies fills, --
Bread-taxed breaks, and dies, man!
Thousand mouths and bellies, then,
Bread-taxed, writhe and swear, man:
England once bred honest men,
Bread-taxed, Burke and Hare, man!
Hark ye! millions soon may pine,
Starving millions curse, man!
Desperate millions long to dine
A-la-Burke, and worse, man!
What will then remain to eat?
Who be eaten then, man?
"Few may part, though many meet,'
At Famine's Feast, ye ken, man.









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