| |
| THEIR eyelids are drooping, no tears lie beneath; | |
| They stand at the loom and grind their teeth; | |
| “We are weaving a shroud for the doubly dead, | |
| And a threefold curse in its every thread— | |
| We are weaving, still weaving. | 5 |
| |
| “A curse for the Godhead to whom we have bowed | |
| In our cold and our hunger, we weave in the shroud; | |
| For in vain have we hoped and in vain have prayed; | |
| He has mocked us and scoffed at us, sold and betrayed— | |
| We are weaving, still weaving. | 10 |
| |
| “A curse for the king of the wealthy and proud, | |
| Who for us had no pity, we weave in the shroud; | |
| Who takes our last penny to swell out his purse, | |
| While we die the death of a dog—yea, a curse— | |
| We are weaving, still weaving. | 15 |
| |
| “A curse for our country, whose cowardly crowd | |
| Hold her shame in high honor, we weave in the shroud; | |
| Whose blossoms are blighted and slain in the germ, | |
| Whose filth and corruption engender the worm— | |
| We are weaving, still weaving. | 20 |
| |
| “To and fro flies our shuttle—no pause in its flight, | |
| ’Tis a shroud we are weaving by day and by night; | |
| We are weaving a shroud for the worse than dead, | |
| And a threefold curse in its every thread— | |
| We are weaving—still weaving.” | 25 |
| |
