COMMONWEALTH OF TOIL

(Ralph Chaplin)



In the gloom of mighty cities

'Mid the roar of whirling wheels

We are toiling on like chattel slaves of old

And our masters hope to keep us

Ever thus beneath their heels

And to coin our very lifeblood into gold



But we have a glowing dream

Of how fair the world would seem

When each man can live his life secure and free

When the earth is owned by Labor

And there's joy and peace for all

In the Commonwealth of Toil that is to be



They would keep us cowed and beaten

Cringing meekly at their feet

They would stand between each worker and his bread

Shall we yield our lives up to them

For the bitter crust we eat?

Shall we only hope for heaven when we're dead?



They have laid our lives out for us

To the utter end of time

Shall we stagger on beneath their heavy load?

Shall we let them live forever

In their gilded halls of crime

With our children doomed to toil beneath their goad?



When our cause is all triumphant

And we claim our Mother Earth

And the nightmare of the present fades away

We shall live with Love and Laughter

We, who now are little worth

And we'll not regret the price we have to pay



@work @IWW

tune: Darling Nellie Gray

filename[ TOILCOMW

SF

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