Joseph Skipsey Poems

HE'S not the bird I took him for―
I heard him in the distance screaming,
And tho' his voice was harsh, that hour,
I dream'd of glories, golden, gleaming!
...

DAME Malice reigns the Queen of hags;
With wink and whisper, nod and chatter,
She trots along, and never fags,
While she has scandal-seeds to scatter.
...

ELF Rumour? Ay, the airy fay,
That treads the air unseen by any;
From town to town, her bugle's blown,
And merry are her pranks, and many.
...

I LIKE the darling critics—like?
O, how upon their work I linger,
When they their weapons use to strike,
Not me, but some less happy singer.
...

DEAR critics, pray, what have I done
That thus you frown so? tell me truly?
'You've for your neck a halter spun,
In blaming of our race unduly!'
...

'SWEET Billy Taylor went to sea!'
Bravo, my metre ballad-monger!
'With silver buckles on his knee!'
Another stave—a little longer!
...

YOU quite mistake the sprite you chase—
I'm of the under, not the upper,
Order of the fairy race;
And cannot go with you to supper.
...

HOW long shall injustice prevail?
How long shall the weak rue the strong?
The children of Poland bewail
The yoke of the Russian?—How long?
...

WAS ever wretch in such a plight?
I scramble on I know not whither!
The witches are abroad to-night;
Some wicked one has led me hither!
...

IN the coal-pit, or the factory,
I toil by night or day,
And still to the music of labour
I lilt my heart-felt lay;
...