'The Hymn of the Wiltshire Labourers'
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"Don't you all think that we have a great need to Cry to our God to put it in the hearst of our greacious Queen and her Members of Parlerment to grant us free bread." - LUCY SIMPKINS, AT BREMHILL.
“Oh GOD, who by thy Prophet’s hand
Didst smite the rocky brake,
Whence water came, at thy command,
They people’s thirst to slake;
Strike, now, upon this granite wall,
Stern, obdurate, and high;
And let some drops of pity fall
For us who starve and die!
The GOD, who took a little child,
And set him in the midst,
And promised him His mercy mild,
As, by Thy Son, Thou didst:
Look down upon our children dear,
So gaunt, so cold, so spare,
And let their images appear,
Where Lords and Genry are!
Oh GOD, teach them to feel how we,
When our poor infants droop,
Are weakened in our trust in Thee,
And how our spirits stoop;
For, in thy rest, so bright and fair,
All tears and sorrows sleep:
And their young looks, so full of care,
Would make Thine Angels weep!
The GOD, who with His finger drew
The Judgment coming on,
Write, for these men, what must ensure,
Ere many years be gone!
Oh GOD whose bow is in the sky,
Let them not brave and dare,
Until they look (too late) on high,
And see An Arrow there!
Oh GOD remind them! In the bread
They break upon the knee,
Those sacred words may yet be read,
“In memory of Me”!
Oh GOD remind them! of His sweet
Compassion for the poor,
And how He gave them Bread to eat,
And went from door to door!
CHARLES DICKENS
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