 | A book of Bristol sonnets |  |
97
ON THE QUAY:
THE LUMPER, OR CORN-RUNNER.
Giant of limb, red capped, and bare of poll,With arms whereon the swart hairs never grow,
He eyes the bag, which, swinging from below,
Demands full measure of the scale-man's dole.
Then, with a jerk and balance, full control
Of the o'erwhelming sack he takes, and so,
His left arm lightly hung, he starts to go
Down yielding plank, and on with easy roll!
We have our corn to run, the daily cark,
Our ship of life brings in at every tide;
And know where, carrying, we those cares may leave.
But these, in their strong zeal to disembark,
Have shamed the sloth with which we labourers plied,
And, head erect, they come new burdens to receive.
| A book of Bristol sonnets | |