By
Julian Stuart (one of the Union Prisoners).
[The Industrial Relation Laws that we take for granted today , are hard one conditions by the Labour Movement.]
To-morrow
the gates of my prison unfold;
To
night is my last in the cell;
The
lingering years to their climax have rolled,
I
hear with emotins that cannot be told,
The
clang of the midnight bell.
I
am thinking of those of a similar fate -
Of
my mates in the gaol by the sea -
And
I picture their eagerness while I await
For
the dawn that shall come to my prison gate,
To
wake me and set me free.
When
we entered the prison, a captive band,
At
the close of a bloodless fray,
'Twas
like marching for years in a desert land;
But
we travelled in unity, hand in hand,
Till
one grew faint by the way.
But
though days of imcurement have left their trace
On
body and brain and heart,
Yet
I feel more of pride than I do of disgrace
At
being condemned to a criminal's place
For
acting a freeman's part.
The
loss of my birthright I bore as long
As
the criminal gard I wore -
'Twas
for aiding the feeble against the strong -
And
to lighten the burden of human wrong
I'd
suffice it all once more.
I
will not brand them as barren days,
Nor
days to be linked with regret,
For
after the future its verdict displays,
When
the scroll of Time shall unroll to our gaze,
They may yield a harvest
yet.
I can find no thanks for
the debt I owe
To the friends who have
been so true;
Oh! friends, when I know
not, and many not know,
But whose kindness shall
cheer me where-ever I go,
What thanks can I tender
you?
But this – To endeavour,
in days to come,
Through all that our fates
may unfold,
To merit your trust till
my lips grow dumb;
To fight in your fights
till my heart grows numb,
And the Blood in my veins
grows cold.
Queensland Railway Times.
Brisbane December 16, 1893.
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