The Sleepers
William Henry Davies 1871 – 1940
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 saw 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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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 19, 2023
- 47 sec read
- 148 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | Ababxx AcxcdA aaxaee abxxdA |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 830 |
Words | 157 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6 |
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"The Sleepers" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/40678/the-sleepers>.
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