As I walked down the waterside <br />This silent morning, wet and dark; <br />Before the cocks in farmyards crowed, <br />Before the dogs began to bark; <br />Before the hour of five was struck <br />By old Westminster's mighty clock: <br /> <br />As I walked down the waterside <br />This morning, in the cold damp air, <br />I saw a hundred women and men <br />Huddled in rags and sleeping there: <br />These people have no work, thought I, <br />And long before their time they die. <br /> <br />That moment, on the waterside, <br />A lighted car came at a bound; <br />I looked inside, and saw a score <br />Of pale and weary men that frowned; <br />Each man sat in a huddled heap, <br />Carried to work while fast asleep. <br /> <br />Ten cars rushed down the waterside <br />Like lighted coffins in the dark; <br />With twenty dead men in each car, <br />That must be brought alive by work: <br />These people work too hard, thought I, <br />And long before their time they die.<br /><br />William Henry Davies<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-sleepers-3/
