Dare We Judge?

By Paulina Brandreth

(In “The Survey.”)

What do we know of life,
We, who are housed and fed,
What do we know of strife
Who are so gently led?

Have we dwelt in the slime
Of Poverty’s abode
Have we walked with the crime
Engendered by its load?

Oh, have we ever known
Days of eternal care?
When Hope is turned to stone
And broken by Despair?

Or have we ever raced
And won, and lost again?
And then with failure faced
The cruelty of men?

We have not lived these things,
Our bread and wine is sweet;
We do not know what causes bring
The woman to the street.

Yet, she who wounds her soul
Is better far than we,
Who do our lives control
In self-complacency.

Aye, better far than we,
Who ignorantly dwell,
Lulled with tranquility
Above the wreck of hell.

What do we know of life,
We, who are housed and fed,
Who, sheltered from all strife,
On thornless pathways tread?