| Arthur Quiller-Couch, comp. The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse. 1922. | | | | Money | | By William H. Davies (1871–1940) |
| | | WHEN I had money, money, O! | |
| I knew no joy till I went poor; | |
| For many a false man as a friend | |
| Came knocking all day at my door. | |
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| Then felt I like a child that holds | 5 |
| A trumpet that he must not blow | |
| Because a man is dead; I dared | |
| Not speak to let this false world know. | |
| |
| Much have I thought of life, and seen | |
| How poor men’s hearts are ever light; | 10 |
| And how their wives do hum like bees | |
| About their work from morn till night. | |
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| So, when I hear these poor ones laugh, | |
| And see the rich ones, coldly frown— | |
| Poor men, think I, need not go up | 15 |
| So much as rich men should come down. | |
| |
| When I had money, money, O! | |
| My many friends proved all untrue; | |
| But now I have no money, O! | |
| My friends are real, though very few. | 20 | | | |
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