Charity & the Poorhouse

charity_

“Frozen to Death”. 1872. Source: McCord museum

We Live in a Rickety House

McLachlan, Alexander (1818 – 1896). 

McLachlan was a 19th century Canadian poet. He wrote of working people, immigrants and in this poem, he criticizes the charitable folks who preach to people living in poverty, the blame that is often placed on the poor and the lack of interest in addressing the larger social conditions.

Original Text: Alexander McLachlan, Poems and Songs (Toronto: Hunter, Rose, 1874): 34. Internet Archive.

We live in a rickety house,
In a dirty dismal street,
Where the naked hide from day,
And thieves and drunkards meet.And pious folks with their tracts,
When our dens they enter in,
They point to our shirtless backs,
As the fruits of beer and gin.And they quote us texts to prove,
That our hearts are hard as stone,
And they feed us with the fact,
That the fault is all our own.

It will be long ere the poor,
Will learn their grog to shun,
While it’s raiment, food and fire,
And religion all in one.

I wonder some pious folks,
Can look us straight in the face,
For our ignorance and crime,
Are the Church’s shame and disgrace.

We live in a rickety house,
In a dirty dismal street,
Where the naked hide from day,
And thieves and drunkards meet.

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