The Song Of The Shirt Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A BCDCEAEA FGFGHFHF FIFIJKLK MNOPEACA QRSRRLML FDTDUVWV FXFXKJJJ FJFJYZA2Z QJJJB2C2JC2 B2D2E2D2JJF2J BJDJEJEEJ| The Song of the Shirt | A |
| - | |
| With fingers weary and worn | B |
| With eyelids heavy and red | C |
| A woman sat in unwomanly rags | D |
| Plying her needle and thread | C |
| Stitch stitch stitch | E |
| In poverty hunger and dirt | A |
| And still with a voice of dolorous pitch | E |
| She sang the Song of the Shirt | A |
| - | |
| Work work work | F |
| While the cock is crowing aloof | G |
| And work work work | F |
| Till the stars shine through the roof | G |
| It's Oh to be a slave | H |
| Along with the barbarous Turk | F |
| Where woman has never a soul to save | H |
| If this is Christian work | F |
| - | |
| Work work work | F |
| Till the brain begins to swim | I |
| Work work work | F |
| Till the eyes are heavy and dim | I |
| Seam and gusset and band | J |
| Band and gusset and seam | K |
| Till over the buttons I fall asleep | L |
| And sew them on in a dream | K |
| - | |
| Oh Men with Sisters dear | M |
| Oh Men with Mothers and Wives | N |
| It is not linen you're wearing out | O |
| But human creatures' lives | P |
| Stitch stitch stitch | E |
| In poverty hunger and dirt | A |
| Sewing at once with a double thread | C |
| A Shroud as well as a Shirt | A |
| - | |
| But why do I talk of Death | Q |
| That Phantom of grisly bone | R |
| I hardly fear its terrible shape | S |
| It seems so like my own | R |
| It seems so like my own | R |
| Because of the fasts I keep | L |
| Oh God that bread should be so dear | M |
| And flesh and blood so cheap | L |
| - | |
| Work work work | F |
| My Labour never flags | D |
| And what are its wages A bed of straw | T |
| A crust of bread and rags | D |
| That shatter'd roof and this naked floor | U |
| A table a broken chair | V |
| And a wall so blank my shadow I thank | W |
| For sometimes falling there | V |
| - | |
| Work work work | F |
| From weary chime to chime | X |
| Work work work | F |
| As prisoners work for crime | X |
| Band and gusset and seam | K |
| Seam and gusset and band | J |
| Till the heart is sick and the brain benumb'd | J |
| As well as the weary hand | J |
| - | |
| Work work work | F |
| In the dull December light | J |
| And work work work | F |
| When the weather is warm and bright | J |
| While underneath the eaves | Y |
| The brooding swallows cling | Z |
| As if to show me their sunny backs | A2 |
| And twit me with the spring | Z |
| - | |
| Oh but to breathe the breath | Q |
| Of the cowslip and primrose sweet | J |
| With the sky above my head | J |
| And the grass beneath my feet | J |
| For only one short hour | B2 |
| To feel as I used to feel | C2 |
| Before I knew the woes of want | J |
| And the walk that costs a meal | C2 |
| - | |
| Oh but for one short hour | B2 |
| A respite however brief | D2 |
| No blessed leisure for Love or Hope | E2 |
| But only time for Grief | D2 |
| A little weeping would ease my heart | J |
| But in their briny bed | J |
| My tears must stop for every drop | F2 |
| Hinders needle and thread | J |
| - | |
| With fingers weary and worn | B |
| With eyelids heavy and red | J |
| A woman sat in unwomanly rags | D |
| Plying her needle and thread | J |
| Stitch stitch stitch | E |
| In poverty hunger and dirt | J |
| And still with a voice of dolorous pitch | E |
| Would that its tone could reach the Rich | E |
| She sang this Song of the Shirt | J |
Thomas Hood
(1)
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About The Song Of The Shirt
The Song Of The Shirt is a poem by Thomas Hood. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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