Most people have no more definite idea of liberty than that it consists in being compelled by law to do as they like – Ambrose Bierce
Pages
▼
Monday, 30 September 2024
At the Railway Station, Upway
Thomas Hardy
"There is not much that I can do,
For I've no money that's quite my own!"
Spoke up the pitying child –
A little boy with a violin
At the station before the train came in, -
"But I can play my fiddle to you,
And a nice one 'tis, and good in tone!"
The man in the handcuffs smiled;
The constable looked, and he smiled, too,
As the fiddle began to twang;
And the man in the handcuffs suddenly sang
Uproariously:
"This life so free
Is the thing for me!"
And the constable smiled, and said no word,
As if unconscious of what he heard;
And so they went on till the train came in –
The convict, and boy with the violin.
That's a new one for me, although I've got a couple of collections of his poetry. He's very good at showing something that would take a lot of words to explain. There's a depth and curiosity to that poem which goes way beyond Victorian pathos.
ReplyDeleteAnd Keir Starmer made sure that the boy was arrested, and charged with terrorist offences...
ReplyDeleteSam - yes it would take a lot of words to explain and it does go way beyond Victorian pathos. Easily viewed as images rather than words, a painting which was never painted.
ReplyDeleteScrobs - quite right too, he committed hurty words on his violin.