The Collier's Wife
The Collier's Wife
Original Text
The Complete Poems of W. H. Davies, intro. by Osbert Sitwell (London: Jonathan Cape, 1963): 565. PR 6007 A8A17
1The collier's wife had four tall sons
2 Brought from the pit's mouth dead,
3 And crushed from foot to head;
4When others brought her husband home,
5Had five dead bodies in her room.
6Had five dead bodies in her house--
7 All in a row they lay--
8 To bury in one day:
9Such sorrow in the valley has
10Made kindness grow like grass
11Oh, collier, collier, underground,
12 In fear of fire and gas,
13 What life more danger has?
14Who fears more danger in this life?
15There is but one--thy wife!
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2011
Rhyme
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