Related quotes: Oh, glorious are the guarded...

The Wage-Slaves

Oh, glorious are the guarded heights
Where guardian souls abide--
Self-exiled from our gross delights--
Above, beyond, outside:
An ampler arc their spirit swings--
Commands a juster view--
We have their word for all these things,
No doubt their words are true.

Yet we, the bond slaves of our day,
Whom dirt and danger press--
Co-heirs of insolence, delay,
And leagued unfaithfulness--
Such is our need must seek indeed
And, having found, engage
The men who merely do the work
For which they draw the wage.

From forge and farm and mine and bench,
Deck, altar, outpost lone--
Mill, school, battalion, counter, trench,
Rail, senate, sheepfold, throne--
Creation's cry goes up on high
From age to cheated age:
"Send us the men who do the work
"For which they draw the wage!"

Words cannot help nor wit achieve,
Nor e'en the all-gifted fool,
Too weak to enter, bide, or leave
The lists he cannot rule.
Beneath the sun we count on none
Our evil to assuage,
Except the men that do the work
For which they draw the wage.

When through the Gates of Stress and Strain
Comes forth the vast Event--
The simple, sheer, sufficing, sane
Result of labour spent--
They that have wrought the end unthought
Be neither saint nor sage,
But only men who did the work
For which they drew the wage.

Wherefore to these the Fates shall bend
(And all old idle things )
Werefore on these shall Power attend
Beyond the grip of kings:
Each in his place, by right, not grace,
Shall rule his heritage--
The men who simply do the work
For which they draw the wage.

Not such as scorn the loitering street,
Or waste, to earth its praise,
Their noontide's unreturning heat
About their morning ways;
But such as dower each mortgaged hour
Alike with clean courage--
Even the men who do the work
For which they draw the wage--
Men, like to Gods, that do the work
For which they draw the wage--
Begin-continue-close that work
For which they draw the wage!

poem by Rudyard Kipling
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Related quotes

Hatred is same.

War of minds that royal ones wage.
War of words that common ones wage.
War of swords that men in slums wage.
Hatred is same; routs are different.
15.10.2011

poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
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It has now been over 7 years since Congress last raised the minimum wage to its current level of $5.15 per hour. Since that last increase, Congress's failure to adjust the wage for inflation has reduced the purchasing power of the minimum wage to record low levels.

quote by Jon Corzine
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A World That Makes You Wonder

There are people, mainly bosses
who get rid of the best
and replace them with the worst.
Hoping that the worst
are going to perform miracles,
but all they do is drag the firm down.

In education, the worst
are applauded and awarded
for wasting money
that should be used
for furthering education.
Bring it up to higher standards.

Yet if you work hard,
you are chastised for doing so.
The Government will bend over backwards
to help those who never want to work.
However, those who do work hard
normally end up on a minimum wage.

My conclusion to all this is,
well it is very simple.
They lazier you are,
the better thought of you are.
You will get all the praise and benefits.
Work hard and they will just use you
to do the work the lazy ones should do.

4 June 2008

poem by David Harris
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The national minimum wage has not been increased in 9 years. By year's end, 21 States across America will have a minimum wage exceeding the Federal minimum wage.

quote by Sherwood Boehlert
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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My home policy: I wage war; my foreign policy: I wage war. All the time I wage war.

quote by Georges Clemenceau
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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We will never have real safety and security for wage earners unless we provide for safety and security for the wage payers and wage savers.

quote by William J. H. Boetcker
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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When Earth's Last Picture Is Painted

When Earth's last picture is painted
And the tubes are twisted and dried
When the oldest colors have faded
And the youngest critic has died
We shall rest, and faith, we shall need it
Lie down for an aeon or two
'Till the Master of all good workmen
Shall put us to work anew
And those that were good shall be happy
They'll sit in a golden chair
They'll splash at a ten league canvas
With brushes of comet's hair
They'll find real saints to draw from
Magdalene, Peter, and Paul
They'll work for an age at a sitting
And never be tired at all.
And only the Master shall praise us.
And only the Master shall blame.
And no one will work for the money.
No one will work for the fame.
But each for the joy of the working,
And each, in his separate star,
Will draw the thing as he sees it.
For the God of things as they are!

poem by Rudyard Kipling
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A whole new ball game.

The time had come for me to go and leave the world of work behind
I was not sure, did not know how I would occupy my mind
To fill the long hours of the day. I knew some things I’d like to try.
But work had left small time for play and now there s was no reason why.

My times my own an I am free to try my hand at something new
from pottery to poetry and that is what I mean to do.
It may seem strange but now I find there are too few hours in the day.
To do the things I have in mind. I look at life a different way.

Retirement wrought a change in me I do the thing I want to do
I have no one to please but me. Something you can look forward to.
When you too leave the world of work behind. You’ll be too busy to regret.
The years you spent as a wage slave you’ll be quite happy to forget.

19-Jul-08

http: // blog.myspace.com/poeticpiers

poem by Ivor Or Ivor.e Hogg
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The influx of women into paid work and her increased power raise a woman's aspirations and hopes for equal treatment at home. Her lower wage and status at work and the threat of divorce reduce what she presses for and actually expects.

quote by Arlie Hochschild
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Payment

A tortuous path of neurons arced a call: ‘Awake! ’
I did; in rising, peering, stretching, bearing,
Pained anticipation saw it all:
Foretold, another filthy day.

I drew the drape: diluvian lay the ground
Beneath a lazy leaden cloud – apissing out
The puddles; irksome on the roof –
The drumming drops of bitter glee
Were hounding out a hapless me –
Reinforcing doubt that I am sound.

I left the house
to go to work
to earn a crust
without a perk
then on to bust
another straining vessel.

Trudging on thro’ mud and clay, I pondered:
‘Why a drought of happy times?
Auspicious climes were
Old and fusty books
Atop a dusty shelf
Inside a morgue-of-a-room,
Somewhere in a long-forgotten library
Down a lane without a way.’

I thought again: ‘And still I pay.’

O how I
work work work work work work work work
work work work work work work work work
work work work work work work work work
work work work work work work work work
work work work work work work work work
work work work work work work work work
work work work work work work work work
work work work work work work work work

poem by Mark R Slaughter
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Four Letter 'Work' Song

Work me up, work me out, work me flip side down.
Work me here, work me there, work me with renown.
Work me hot, work me greedy,
work me through and through.
Work me to the very marrow,
work me just like I'd work you.
Work me proud, work me late,
work me do not hesitate.
Won't you let me work for you?
Work me til I'm black and blue.
Work me steady, work me needy, work me to a lather.
Work me til my backbone breaks, and the buzzards gather.
Work me in, work me under, work me til I bleed,
Work me over red hot coals, work me like a boss in need.
Work me nasty, work me silly, work me through the clover.
Up down, 'n' in between, into a slipknot sweet Jehovah.
Work me, work me, go ahead.
Work me, work me, til I'm dead.

Buddy Bee Anthony

poem by Buddy Bee Anthony
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The Struggle

The struggle.
Just to keep warm.
The back breaking work.
Just to keep a roof over my head.
The minimum wage slave.
Or get locked in a cage.
With choices so grim.
Sometimes one must think outside the box.

A trade illegal by any other means.
But when comes to necessities.
It goes right out the window.
With the knowledge and know how.
We would all do something of which we shouldn't be proud.
What the courts say isn't what you believe.
With money it can be bought, but your conscience can not.
Guilt never goes away, it just sits their an rots.
Becomes a poisonous apple inside you.

Talents so few.
Desires dwindling.
The candle melts away.
Their is a time limit.
Have I reach it yet?
I just don't know.
How could one?
I have no crystal ball.
I have no magic cauldron.
I have no special recipe.
I'm no Einstein.
He believed time viewing was theoretically possible.
I believe of the past most certainly.
But of the future I just don't know.

A dedication to every one in the world.
No matter rich or poor.
We are all human.
We all have needs.
Let not lust or ambition to succeed turn into greed.
Lets lift each other up when we need help.
Lets not abandon someone for something ugly such as indifference.
Be proud of the rarity of our existence.
Realize life is precious.
No number should ever put upon it.
And know that these decision we make determine the outcome of the entire world.
No matter how powerless you feel.
No matter futile it seems.
Know you can make a difference.

poem by Ace Of Black Hearts
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Admiration... For Those Who Work!

i have a deep admiration
for the common working people
of the world...
having lived among them,
worked and sweated with them,
i sing their struggle!

farmers toiling day and night,
nurses pulling double shifts.
factory workers doing time and again,
carpenters and masons building.
black and white and all colors,
working their lives by faith.
and immigrants, often called illegal,
(though no human beings are illegal!) ...
who come here and work for whatever wage,
trying to build a dream for their families.
let us not forget women,
too often underpaid and treated as less...
truckdrivers, and those who work the docks,
steel workers, cooks, and trash collectors...
all leave me in awe...

there are many who cant work,
these should always be taken care of.
but the ones that could work if they would work,
who can work, and wont...
well... i have a problem there!

i was taught to work as a child...
taught respect, dignity, and honesty...
and so i believe, and so i live...
in admiration for those who work!

poem by Eric Cockrell
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Today a minimum wage earner has to work a day and a half just to pay for a full tank of gas. That is simply shameful.

quote by Bill Pascrell
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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At the current $5.15 an hour, the federal minimum wage has become a poverty wage. A full-time worker with one child lives below the official poverty line.

quote by Bernie Sanders
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The power to wage war is the power to wage war successfully.

quote by Charles Evans Hughes
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Any necessary work that pays an honest wage carries its own honor and dignity.

quote by W. Kelly Griffith
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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If a man or a woman puts in an honest day's work, they should to be able to earn a living wage.

quote by Richard J. Codey
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Work, Sleep, Work, Sleep, Work

Work, sleep, work, sleep,
Work, sleep, work, sleep,
Work, sleep, work, sleep,
Work:

Work, sleep, work, sleep,
Work, sleep, work, sleep,
Work, sleep, work, sleep,
Work.

Oh free me please with gentle ease
From work, sleep, work, sleep, work!
This odium, pounding tedium
Of my work, sleep, work, sleep, work.

Just whisk me off to lands afar
From work, sleep, work, sleep, work -
That grinding train of rhythmic pain
Called ‘Work, sleep, work, sleep, work.’

Poor neural circuits fizzle and pop
In work, sleep, work, sleep, work,
In trying to make some sense of all this
Work, sleep, work, sleep, work.

But Hark! I see a golden gleam -
A saving spirit of hope:
‘You’re fired! ’ He screams. What news to bear,
This wondrous hangman’s rope!

So now I’m free, released from all this
Work, sleep, work, sleep, work -
Eternal peace and rest for me, no
Work, sleep, work, sleep, work.