Rebel Verses

<h2><SPAN name="Oh_Fools" id="Oh_Fools"></SPAN>Oh Fools</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Oh Fools! who plough, with hunger faint;<br/></span> <span class="i0">Who reap the harvest, lacking grain;<br/></span> <span class="i0">Oh Sheep! who offer no complaint;<br/></span> <span class="i0">Oh Worms! who dare not turn again.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">The farmer leads the best of lives,<br/></span> <span class="i0">His food pours in: abundant feast;<br/></span> <span class="i0">Full fed upon your sweat he thrives;<br/></span> <span class="i0">And you&mdash;and you&mdash;are but a beast!<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Each day you tend the growing corn,<br/></span> <span class="i0">'The ox shall not be muzzled'&mdash;True!<br/></span> <span class="i0">All animals must have their turn;<br/></span> <span class="i0">But less than any beast are you!<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">The horse is stabled, dry and warm,<br/></span> <span class="i0">His food is measured, manger-full;<br/></span> <span class="i0">The sheep is valued on the farm,<br/></span> <span class="i0">A price is found for meat and wool.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">You&mdash;you are but a working man!<br/></span> <span class="i0">Your wages run from day to day,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Your wife and brood live as they can;<br/></span> <span class="i0">They count for no return of pay.<br/></span> <span class="pagenum">[27]</span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Old age creeps o'er your wrinkled face,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Your shoulders droop toward the soil;<br/></span> <span class="i0">When, faltering, you leave the race,<br/></span> <span class="i0">The workhouse well repays your toil.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Oh piteous soul! with none to care,<br/></span> <span class="i0">At length they recognize your worth;<br/></span> <span class="i0">And England yields, herself, your share:<br/></span> <span class="i0">A pauper grave in Mother Earth.<br/></span> <span class="pagenum">[28]</span></div> </div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />