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b'T Hood read by Classic Poetry Aloud: Giving voice to the poetry of the past.\\nwww.classicpoetryaloud.com\\n\\n--------------------------------------------\\n\\nThe Song of the Shirt\\nby Thomas Hood (1799 \\u2013 1845)\\n \\n \\nWith fingers weary and worn,\\n With eyelids heavy and red,\\nA woman sat in unwomanly rags,\\n Plying her needle and thread\\u2014\\n Stitch! stitch! stitch! \\nIn poverty, hunger, and dirt,\\n And still with a voice of dolorous pitch\\nShe sang the \\u201cSong of the Shirt!\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cWork! work! work!\\n While the cock is crowing aloof!\\nAnd work\\u2014work\\u2014work,\\n Till the stars shine through the roof!\\nIt \\u2019s Oh! to be a slave\\n Along with the barbarous Turk,\\nWhere woman has never a soul to save,\\n If this is Christian work!\\n\\n\\u201cWork\\u2014work\\u2014work\\n Till the brain begins to swim;\\nWork\\u2014work\\u2014work\\n Till the eyes are heavy and dim.\\nSeam, and gusset, and band,\\n Band, and gusset, and seam,\\nTill over the buttons I fall asleep,\\n And sew them on in a dream!\\n\\n\\u201cOh, Men, with Sisters dear!\\n Oh, Men, with Mothers and Wives!\\nIt is not linen you \\u2019re wearing out,\\n But human creatures\\u2019 lives!\\n Stitch\\u2014stitch\\u2014stitch,\\n In poverty, hunger, and dirt,\\nSewing at once, with a double thread,\\n A Shroud as well as a Shirt.\\n\\n\\u201cBut why do I talk of Death?\\n That Phantom of grisly bone,\\nI hardly fear his terrible shape,\\n It seems so like my own\\u2014\\nIt seems so like my own,\\n Because of the fasts I keep;\\nOh, God! that bread should be so dear,\\n And flesh and blood so cheap!\\n\\n\\u201cWork\\u2014work\\u2014work!\\n My labor never flags;\\nAnd what are its wages? A bed of straw,\\n A crust of bread\\u2014and rags.\\nThat shatter\\u2019d roof\\u2014and this naked floor\\u2014\\n A table\\u2014a broken chair\\u2014\\nAnd a wall so blank, my shadow I thank\\n For sometimes falling there.\\n\\n\\u201cWork\\u2014work\\u2014work!\\nFrom weary chime to chime,\\n Work\\u2014work\\u2014work,\\nAs prisoners work for crime!\\n Band, and gusset, and seam,\\n Seam, and gusset, and band,\\nTill the heart is sick, and the brain benumb\\u2019d,\\n As well as the weary hand.\\n\\n\\u201cWork\\u2014work\\u2014work,\\nIn the dull December light,\\n And work\\u2014work\\u2014work,\\nWhen the weather is warm and bright,\\nWhile underneath the eaves\\n The brooding swallows cling\\nAs if to show me their sunny backs\\n And twit me with the spring.\\n\\n\\u201cOh! but to breathe the breath\\nOf the cowslip and primrose sweet,\\n With the sky above my head,\\nAnd the grass beneath my feet,\\nFor only one short hour\\n To feel as I used to feel,\\nBefore I knew the woes of want\\n And the walk that costs a meal,\\n\\n\\u201cOh, but for one short hour!\\n A respite however brief!\\nNo blessed leisure for Love or Hope,\\n But only time for Grief!\\nA little weeping would ease my heart,\\n But in their briny bed\\nMy tears must stop, for every drop\\n Hinders needle and thread!\\u201d\\n\\nWith fingers weary and worn,\\n With eyelids heavy and red,\\nA woman sat in unwomanly rags,\\n Plying her needle and thread\\u2014\\n Stitch! stitch! stitch!\\n In poverty, hunger, and dirt,\\nAnd still with a voice of dolorous pitch,\\nWould that its tone could reach the Rich!\\n She sang this \\u201c Song of the Shirt!"\\n\\n\\nFirst aired: 1 November 2007\\n\\nFor hundreds more poetry readings, visit the Classic Poetry Aloud index.\\n\\nReading \\xa9 Classic Poetry Aloud 2009'