Ballad Of The Seven O'Clock Whistle

The daisied dawn is in the sky,     And the young day still dew and dream,     When on the innocent morning air     There comes a terrifying scream;     And the four ends of the sad earth     Repeat the hellish dreadful call;     Soft ladies murmur in soft beds -     "The morning whistle - that is all!"     And I too turn to sleep once more,     A haunted sleep all filled with pain;     For in my sleep I see the men,     The victims of colossal Gain,     Troop in the doors of servitude;     I see the children weary-eyed,     I see the time-clock, and I see     The endless day that glooms inside.     It is the Moloch of the dawn,     Capital calling for its prey -     Men, women and little boys and girls,     It's human sacrifice each day.     And, as I hear that dreadful scream,     High in the dawn all filled with song, -     I pray within my aching heart - "O Lord!     O Lord! How long! How long!"