Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ROMANCE (SEAMEN'S STRIKE), by FRANK WILMOT


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ROMANCE (SEAMEN'S STRIKE), by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Proud legions strode the valley of the days
Last Line: Their surly clamour for a louseless bed.
Alternate Author Name(s): Maurice, Furnley
Subject(s): Labor Unions; Sailing & Sailors; Strikes; Labor Disputes; Lockouts


PROUD legions strode the valley of the days,
Behind their march obscuring dust rolled high
To melt wild deeds to legends and defy
Our honest hope for truth and just dispraise.
Lagoons and rainbows! Peer into the haze:
Flash the charged corselet and the spear-bright eye.
All queens are kind, all warriors glad to die --
But no dust softens the life before our gaze!

The stampers break from quartz our age of gold!
Ah, gallantry! Fists beat and women rend
The dark with moans, while stokers, mad, half-fed,
Put out the lights and chill men's bones with cold
Before complacent villa-folk attend
Their surly clamour for a louseless bed.





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