WORK.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXV, Issue 2835, 13 September 1890, Page 4

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 loss or gain ; For the Power that h:is called us to breathe and live Has linked us with labour's chain, [CinK, or peasant, or priest, Kulers of men or minds, The greatest, firm as the least, The chain of labour binds, And sure as the sun his daily task Fresh to his hand he find*. I work by the midnight oil Till the night and morning meet, And fe.-ir rides fost on the toil, And spurs me with pitiless feet, — The fear lest tho hand or the brain should fail; I work for the bread we eat. Failure hang:-! ovur my head Liko a two-edged sword, and bare,— Thn future, cli.ndod by dread, The. present dark with careSo dark that we hail in faintest gleam A promise- of morning fair. 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 labour at Inst may end, Till the weary hand may stay ; The la a thought, fashioned, the last word penned. As the dying lire eleauis play, \nd well-won .-.luinbui , may come and chase The. hopes and fears ~t the day. It may not be ever so— Tho future a prize may hold ; On her loving face, with hope aglow, I gaze, and my heart is b->ld ; So, hey for the bonny bright time, sweet When tho work shall win the gold ! —Jlnm Coxway. 1 I