I used to glorify the poor,
Not simply lofty views expressing:
Their lives alone, I felt, were true,
Devoid of pomp and window-dressing.
No stranger to the manor house,
Its finery and lordly tenor,
I was a friend of down-and-outs,
And shunned the idly sponging manner.
For choosing friendship in the ranks
Of working people, though no rebel,
I had the honour to be stamped
As also one among the rabble.
The state of basements, unadorned,
Of attics with no frills or curtains
Was tangible without pretence
And full of substance, weighty, certain.
And I went bad when rot defaced
Our time, and life became infested,
When grief was censured as disgrace
And all played optimists and yes-men.
My faith in those who seemed my friends
Was broken and our ties were sundered.
I, too, lost Man, the Human, since
He had been lost by all and sundry.
Does one bias offend less than another bias? There really are bad rotting souls in the ranks of the poor as well as in the ranks of the wealthy. A less judgmental eye might see more to love
A nice poem about the plight of the poor and how the poet likes to be one from them. Thanks for sharing.
thoughtfully crafted every stanza - and I like to quote last one- My faith in those who seemed my friends Was broken and our ties were sundered. I, too, lost Man, the Human, since He had been lost by all and sundry.
I, too, lost Man, the Human, since He had been lost by all and sundry. the poor and the rich...... thank u. tony
He is quoted as saying: “In all my ways let me pierce through into the very essence....” I think that speaks to the why of this poem
i thought i knew where this poem was heading until the last two stanzas. not only was the rhyme pattern abandoned in them but also any sense that i could make of them. romanticizing any person or group is another form of the grass is always greener syndrome. people are people, but it's a challenge to see the dignity and humanity of some in contrast to some others. -gk
Foreshadowing and then experiencing the trauma of what he depicts in Dr. Zhivago, (I think) his famous novel of the communist revolution.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
Reminds me of the song CHANGE popularized by TEARS FOR FEARS... Thanks for posting....