Social Commentaries

Money

by W. H. Davies 1871–1940

From The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse (1912)

Social Commentaries

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
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;
And how their wives do hum like bees
About their work from morn till night.
So, when I hear these poor ones laugh,
And see the rich ones coldly frown —
Poor men, think I, need not go up

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.

MLA

Davies, W. H. “Money.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/davies_wh/57/.

Chicago

Davies, W. H. “Money.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/davies_wh/57/.

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