Poems (Tree)/What Will Happen to the Beggar, and the Sinner and the Sad
WHAT will happen to the beggar, and the sinner, and the sad,
And the drunk that drinks for sorrow, and the maimed, and mad;
What will happen to the starving, and the rebel run from drilling,
Cowardly, afraid of fighting, and the child who stole a shilling?
They shall go to prison black
With a striped shirt on the back,
Feast on bread and water there
In a cell, without a care.
They shall learn at least their duty,
Never tempted more of beauty—
They shall walk in rows and praise the Lord,
And one or two shall hang upon a cord—
And two or three shall die of grief alone—
(And this is well, for sinners should atone,)
And five or six shall curse the God that made them,
(And this is wicked, for the priests forbade them,)
And those that grew from dust shall go to dust
Downtrodden. Saith the preacher:—"God is just."
And the drunk that drinks for sorrow, and the maimed, and mad;
What will happen to the starving, and the rebel run from drilling,
Cowardly, afraid of fighting, and the child who stole a shilling?
They shall go to prison black
With a striped shirt on the back,
Feast on bread and water there
In a cell, without a care.
They shall learn at least their duty,
Never tempted more of beauty—
They shall walk in rows and praise the Lord,
And one or two shall hang upon a cord—
And two or three shall die of grief alone—
(And this is well, for sinners should atone,)
And five or six shall curse the God that made them,
(And this is wicked, for the priests forbade them,)
And those that grew from dust shall go to dust
Downtrodden. Saith the preacher:—"God is just."
1917