 | Reuben and Other Poems |  |
MASTER AND SERVANT.
The master is the servant, the true slave,
And Tom and Dick the masters;—endless care
To think for them, to plan their work, to pave
Their way and keep them there.
And Tom and Dick the masters;—endless care
To think for them, to plan their work, to pave
Their way and keep them there.
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What freemen they! From work so often done,
Their hands alone might do the tasks assigned;
Some labour of the muscle and the bone,
But little of the mind.
Their hands alone might do the tasks assigned;
Some labour of the muscle and the bone,
But little of the mind.
And even that stops with the driven nail,
The placement of the stone, the served-up lime—
Their only care that Time, slow as a snail,
Delays the loosening chime.
The placement of the stone, the served-up lime—
Their only care that Time, slow as a snail,
Delays the loosening chime.
But for their servant-master rings no bell!
He comes, he leaves, yet not their freedom knows,
But drags his business, as the snail its shell,
With him where'er he goes.
He comes, he leaves, yet not their freedom knows,
But drags his business, as the snail its shell,
With him where'er he goes.
| Reuben and Other Poems | |