Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE RICH MAN, by WALT MASON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE RICH MAN, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The rich man, in the diatribes of virtuous
Last Line: Godless crimes.
Subject(s): Gold; Money; Upper Classes; Wealth; Riches; Fortunes


THE rich man, in the diatribes of virtuous and moral scribes, is full of sin and

tricks and guile, dishonestly he gets his pile. Wealth is for him the only lure;

he has no patience with the poor; that he may gain his place on deck, he steps
upon his brother's neck. He is a pirate and a fraud; the law should strip him of

his wad. We applaud this sort of stuff, and hail the scribes, "Lay on, MacDuff!"

We yell "hooray!" and wave our hats, and help to roast the plutocrats. And while

we cuss the wealthy lads, we're busy hustling for the scads. We bust suspenders

every day, in fear a plunk will get away. The more we get the more we need; we
have the rich man's grasping greed, without the wondrous skill he owns for
gathering the shining bones. And that is why he has our hate; we're down on any

soulless skate who takes in plunks where we get dimes; we can't forgive his
godless crimes.





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