As I walked down the waterside
This silent morning, wet and dark;
Before the cocks in farmyards crowed,
Before the dogs began to bark;
Before the hour of five was struck
By old Westminster's mighty clock:
As I walked down the waterside
This morning, in the cold damp air,
I was a hundred women and men
Huddled in rags and sleeping there:
These people have no work, thought I,
And long before their time they die.
That moment, on the waterside,
A lighted car came at a bound;
I looked inside, and saw a score
Of pale and weary men that frowned;
Each man sat in a huddled heap,
Carried to work while fast asleep.
Ten cars rushed down the waterside
Like lighted coffins in the dark;
With twenty dead men in each car,
That must be brought alive by work:
These people work too hard, thought I,
And long before their time they die.
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Comments2Wow, this poem really hit me in the feels. It's pretty bleak, painting a dark picture of people with impossible lives. Homeless folks, overworked workers, it's really heavy stuff. Hits you with a cold bucket of reality, it does. Makes me consider how we truly value people and work in society. Not gonna lie, it's a lot to take in for a school assignment, but it definitely made me think.
really gives ya somethin to think about, don't it? Davies paints a grim picture but i reckon he's right on the nose. look around, peeps workin' too hard, dying too young, it ain't fair. then on the flip side u got folks with no work at all. life's a catch-22, ain't it? poem's a bit of a downer, no doubt, but hey, ain't that a slice of life for ya? i gotta give the guy props for tellin it like it is.