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Children's Jobs

Deep in the earth’s bowels We crawl through tight tunnels Where it’s darker than night But for glimmer of light From small stub of tallow, A feeble yellow glow. Above our heads the rock It often creaks and cracks. We each have our own jobs. Mine is collecting cobs. Others sort slate and slack From the hewn rock-face black. Some haul full carts of coal Up track to exit hole. Crawling through tight tunnels, Deep in the earth’s bowels.

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Paula Goldsmith

Date: 6/29/2023 9:35:00 AM

WOW!!! What a powerful write/story. Have a wonderful day...................

Tony Hargreaves
Date: 12/5/2023 7:37:00 AM

Many thanks Paula. Pauper children were cheap slaves. Brutal Britain in mid-eighteen hundreds. Many mine owners made grand profits and some sat in the House of Lords. Legislation slowly came. All the best. Tony

Andrew John

Date: 6/29/2023 2:26:00 AM

I can imagine. Wow. How long ago was this type of mining, crawling in a night-dark mine? A good read, Tony.

Tony Hargreaves
Date: 6/29/2023 9:15:00 AM

Thanks Andrew. Many coalmines used pauper children as cheap labour in Britain in the brutal days of industrialisation. My poem relates to Yorkshire mines in the 1800s. It was but slavery. All the best. Tony.

J. Summers

Date: 6/28/2023 3:49:00 PM

I liked the poem, really good stuff. I was reminded of “The Golf Links” by Sarah Cleghorn. John

Tony Hargreaves
Date: 6/29/2023 9:01:00 AM

Many thanks John. Pleased you liked this. Just taken a look at S.Cleghorn's poem. 'The golf links lie so near the mill ...' Best wishes. Tony.

Sara Kendrick

Date: 6/28/2023 11:48:00 AM

Whoa!! I can't imagine what those days must have been like for those adults and children alike that worked in the coal mines. Thanks for sharing this one with us. I can feel the emotion within the lines. Sara

Tony Hargreaves
Date: 6/28/2023 12:12:00 PM

Thanks Sara. They were dreadful times when industry and urbanisation took over. Pauper children were but slaves in a system of gross corruption and greed. (See: Patience Kershaw's evidence. Ref. Underground Histories, Yorkshire.) All the best. Tony.