If the laborer in times gone by did not sing for
abundance, what did he sing for (stanza three)? The verses in italics
are a kind of refrain, as if the laborer were singing to himself. _So is
it said and sung_ refers to the fact that these lines are adapted from
passages in the Bible. _This last ambush_: What does the author mean
here by suggesting that the laborer has been entrapped? Who are "they"
in the line "'Enough for him,' they said"? How did they take away "the
corn, the oil, the wine"? How did they take away "the air and the sun"?
Who now has the product of the workman's toil? What are "the eyes of
Need"? Is it true that one may work hard and still be in need? If it is
true, who is to blame? What are "dim" faces? Why does the author begin
the word _Man_ with a capital? What effect does too much hard work have
upon the laborer? What is "the crooked air"? Who is represented as
saying _Why_? How does the world forbid the laborer to live? Why are
there dotted lines before and after _Why_ and _What_ and _How long_? Who
are meant by _Them_ in the line beginning "Only lets"? Why does the
author say that the prisons are filled with ill-used laborers? What does
she mean by saying that the prisoners are "bruised for our iniquities"?
What is gained here by using the language of the Bible? _The
all-but-human_ means "almost intelligent"--referring to machinery. Does
the author mean to praise the "sovereign Few"? Who are these "Few
magnificent"? Are they really to blame for the sufferings of the poor?
_Himself_ in the line beginning "Of that lost," refers to God.
Pages:
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314