WORK.

Grey River Argus, Volume XXXI, Issue 5304, 26 September 1885, Page 1 (Supplement)

WORK.

To work is the doom of men, To work with the hand or brain, With hammer, or spade, or pen, To work, be it losVor gain ; For the Power that galled us to breathe and live " - v ? ; Has linked us with labor's chain. Kin-_', or peasant, or priest,;.^.; .„./>',. Rulers of men or minds, ' •* ' ' ' - The greatest, firm as the least, This chain of labor binds, And sure as the sun his daily task Fresh to his hand he finds. I work by the midnight oil Till the night and morning meet, And fear rises fast on the toil, And spurs me with nitiless feet- — The fear lest the hand or the brain should fail I work tor the bread we eat. Failure hangs over my head Like a two-edged sword and bare ; The future clouded by dread The present dark with care — So dark that we hail in faintest gleam A promise of morning fair. y' r I work, and mute, through the night, She watches, sweet wife, by my side, And now and again, as I seek the flight Of fancy fluttering wide, She raises her eyes, and they meet my own, Constant with love and pride. Till the labor at last may end, Till the weary hand may stay, f The last thought fashioned, the last word penned, As tho dying fire-gleams play, And well-worn slumber may come and chase The hopes and fears of the day. 'O It may not be ever so — 40L The future a prize may hold ; On her loving face, with hope aglow, I gaze, and my heart is bold ; So, hey for the bonny, bright time, sweet • wife, "When the work shall win the gold. — Hugh Conway.