{"id":2418,"date":"2024-03-16T13:52:53","date_gmt":"2024-03-16T13:52:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/daniel.footstepsbooks.com\/?p=2418"},"modified":"2024-03-16T13:52:53","modified_gmt":"2024-03-16T13:52:53","slug":"song-of-the-shirt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/daniel.footstepsbooks.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/16\/song-of-the-shirt\/","title":{"rendered":"Song of the Shirt"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"d-flex poem__title mb-1\">\n<h1><span class=\"field field--title\">Song of the Shirt<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"field field--body\">\n<pre>With fingers weary and worn,\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0With eyelids heavy and red,\r\nA woman sat in unwomanly rags,\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Plying her needle and thread\u2014\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Stitch! stitch! stitch!\r\nIn poverty, hunger, and dirt,\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And still with a voice of dolorous pitch\r\nShe sang the \u201cSong of the Shirt.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWork! work! work!\r\nWhile the cock is crowing aloof!             \r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And work\u2014work\u2014work,\r\nTill the stars shine through the roof!\r\nIt\u2019s O! to be a slave\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Along with the barbarous Turk,\r\nWhere woman has never a soul to save,\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If this is Christian work!\r\n\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWork\u2014work\u2014work,\r\nTill the brain begins to swim;\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Work\u2014work\u2014work,\r\nTill the eyes are heavy and dim!\r\nSeam, and gusset, and band,                    \r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Band, and gusset, and seam,\r\nTill over the buttons I fall asleep,\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And sew them on in a dream!\r\n\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cO, men, with sisters dear!\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0O, men, with mothers and wives!\r\nIt is not linen you\u2019re wearing out, \r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But human creatures\u2019 lives!\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Stitch\u2014stitch\u2014stitch,\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In poverty, hunger and dirt,      \r\nSewing at once, with a double thread,\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A Shroud as well as a Shirt.\r\n\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cBut why do I talk of death?\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0That phantom of grisly bone,\r\nI hardly fear his terrible shape,\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It seems so like my own\u2014\r\nIt seems so like my own, \r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Because of the fasts I keep;\r\nOh, God! that bread should be so dear.\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And flesh and blood so cheap!\r\n              \r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWork\u2014work\u2014work!\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0My labour never flags;\r\nAnd what are its wages? A bed of straw,\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A crust of bread\u2014and rags.\r\nThat shattered roof\u2014this naked floor\u2014\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A table\u2014a broken chair\u2014\r\nAnd a wall so blank, my shadow I thank\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0For sometimes falling there!\r\n\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWork\u2014work\u2014work!\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0From weary chime to chime,   \r\nWork\u2014work\u2014work,\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As prisoners work for crime!\r\nBand, and gusset, and seam,\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Seam, and gusset, and band,\r\nTill the heart is sick, and the brain benumbed,\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As well as the weary hand.\r\n\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWork\u2014work\u2014work,\r\nIn the dull December light,\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And work\u2014work\u2014work,\r\nWhen the weather is warm and bright\u2014         \r\nWhile underneath the eaves\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The brooding swallows cling\r\nAs if to show me their sunny backs\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And twit me with the spring.\r\n\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cO! but to breathe the breath\r\nOf the cowslip and primrose sweet\u2014\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0With the sky above my head,\r\nAnd the grass beneath my feet;\r\nFor only one short hour\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0To feel as I used to feel,            \r\nBefore I knew the woes of want\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And the walk that costs a meal!\r\n\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cO! but for one short hour!\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A respite however brief!\r\nNo blessed leisure for Love or hope,\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But only time for grief!\r\nA little weeping would ease my heart,\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But in their briny bed\r\nMy tears must stop, for every drop\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Hinders needle and thread!\u201d\r\n\r\nWith fingers weary and worn,\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0With eyelids heavy and red,\r\nA woman sat in unwomanly rags,\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Plying her needle and thread\u2014\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Stitch! stitch! stitch!\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In poverty, hunger, and dirt,\r\nAnd still with a voice of dolorous pitch,\u2014\r\nWould that its tone could reach the Rich!\u2014\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0She sang this \u201cSong of the Shirt!\u201d\r\n\r\nThomas Hood.\r\nOne of tbhe most significant socialist poems ever written.<\/pre>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Song of the Shirt With fingers weary and worn, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0With eyelids heavy and red, A woman sat in unwomanly rags, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Plying her needle and thread\u2014 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Stitch! stitch! stitch! In poverty, hunger, and dirt, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And still with a voice of dolorous pitch She sang the \u201cSong of the Shirt.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWork! work! work! While the cock is&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[836,835],"class_list":["post-2418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily","tag-song-of-the-shirt","tag-thomas-hood"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/daniel.footstepsbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/daniel.footstepsbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/daniel.footstepsbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/daniel.footstepsbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/daniel.footstepsbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2418"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/daniel.footstepsbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2419,"href":"https:\/\/daniel.footstepsbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2418\/revisions\/2419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/daniel.footstepsbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/daniel.footstepsbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/daniel.footstepsbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}