Wind in the west; no symptoms of a thaw;
The coldest, bleakest day I ever saw.
And I'm housed up, with nothing much to do
Except to read the papers through and through.

" Died of starvation! " — what does this all mean?
Stores of provisions everywhere are seen.
" Died of starvation! " here's the place and name
Right in the paper; let us blush for shame!

This city wastes what any one would call
Nine hundred times enough to feed us all;
And yet folks die in garret, hut, and street,
Simply because there isn't enough to eat!

Oh, heavens! there runs an Asiatic rat,
Sleek as a banker, and almost as fat;
He daily breakfasts, dines, and sups, and thrives
On what would save a pair of human lives;

He rears a family with his own fat features,
On food we lock up from our fellow-creatures;
And human beings fall down by the way,
And die for want of food this very day!

" Frozen to death! " — the worse than useless moth
May feed this year on bales and bales of cloth;
Untouched, ten million tons of coal can lie,
While God's own human beings freeze and die!

" Died of starvation! " — waves of golden wheat
All summer dashed and glistened at our feet;
Dull, senseless grain is stored in buildings high,
And God's own human beings starve and die!

I would not rob from rich men what they earn,
But I would have them sweet compassion learn;
Oh, do not Pity's gentle voice defy,
While God's own human beings starve and die!