After the Fight
By Mary O’Reilly
(Chicago school teacher. Writer and speaker on labor questions. The following poem was written for “Life and Labor.”)
A lull in the struggle,
A truce in the fight,
The whirr of machines
And the dearly-bought right
Just to labor for bread,—
Just to work and be fed.
For this we have marched
Through the snow-covered street;
Have borne our dead comrades
While muffled drums beat.
It is thus we have fought
For this boon dearly bought.
We measure our gain
By the price we have paid.
Call the victory great
As the struggle we made.
For we struggled to grow,
And we won. And we know....
Together we suffered
The weary weeks past;
Together we won,
And together at last
As we learn our own might,
We shall win the great fight.
A lull in the struggle,
A truce in the fight,
The whirr of machines
And the dearly-bought right
Just to labor for bread,—
Just to work and be fed!