Victorian Blyth
HomeThe People Must PayPoetryLinksContact

Jubilee

by Matty Tate

What a work I ween
To honour the Queen
And to welcome her Jubilee
In prose and in verse
Men sing till they’re hoarse
And kindly ask you to dip in your purse
For Victoria, queen of the sea

What a bustle and stir
To the farthest shore
That’s swept by the foamy waves
The black and the white
Are jubilant quite
They shout and they sing with a strong man’s might
We cannot and will not be slaves

Yet the stronger they crush
To the very last push
The weak and the poor down
And tell him he must
Live in hope and in trust
And blindly work while they lie and rust
And bid him respect the Crown

We could be more loyal
With a share of the soil
We labour so hard to till
’Tis a grim mockery
To the extent that we
Shall doff the cap, or yet bend the knee

With a fair and free goodwill
When, Oh! narrow the gulf
’Twixt the poor and the wolf
That’s ever their doors a nigh
Though they labour away
From day to day
Instead of rejoicing, methinks that they
May look in their cupboards and sigh

Why waste we our means
Over Kings and Queens
Though ever so good they may be?
Let the Duke and the Peer
With their thousands a year
Rejoice if they like, but Oh dear, Oh dear
Save the poor from this Jubilee

Matty Tate
Hear David Garrett reading this poem
Listen to David Garrett reading this poem
If you have a slow connection, you may have to wait a while

Back to previous page


The Victorian Blyth website is maintained by Blyth Resource & Initiative Centre

Website design: McKenzie Media