Upton Sinclair, ed. (1878–1968).
The Cry for Justice: An Anthology of the Literature of Social Protest. 1915. | | | | The March of the Workers |
By William Morris |
(English poet and artist, 1834–1896; founder of the “Arts and Crafts” movement, and a lifelong Socialist) |
| | | WHAT is this—the sound and rumor? What is this that all men hear, | |
| Like the wind in hollow valleys when the storm is drawing near, | |
| Like the rolling-on of ocean in the eventide of fear? | |
| ’Tis the people marching on. | |
| |
CHORUS
Hark the rolling of the thunder! | 5 |
| Lo! the sun! and lo! thereunder | |
| Riseth wrath, and hope, and wonder, | |
| And the host comes marching on. | |
| |
| Forth they come from grief and torment; on they go towards health and mirth. | |
| All the wide world is their dwelling, every corner of the earth. | 10 |
| Buy them, sell them for thy service! Try the bargain what ’tis worth, | |
| For the days are marching on. (Chorus) | |
| |
| Many a hundred years passed over have they labored deaf and blind; | |
| Never tidings reached their sorrow, never hope their toil might find. | |
| Now at last they’ve heard and hear it, and the cry comes down the wind | 15 |
| And their feet are marching on. (Chorus) | |
| |
| “Is it war then? Will ye perish as the dry wood in the fire? | |
| Is it peace? Then be ye of us, let your hope be our desire. | |
| Come and live! for life awaketh, and the world shall never tire; | |
| And hope is marching on. (Chorus) | 20 | | | |
|
|
