Till the Master of All Good Workmen shall put us to work anew!
And those that were good shall be happy: they shall sit in a golden chair;
They shall splash at a ten-league canvas with brushes of comets’ hair;
They shall find real saints to draw from – Magdalene, Peter, and Paul;
They shall work for an age at a sitting and never be tired at all!
And only the Master shall praise us, and only the Master shall blame;
And no one shall work for money, and no one shall work for fame,
But each for the joy of the working, and each, in his separate star,
Shall draw the Thing as he sees It for the God of Things as They Are!
notes
1
Camel: – oo is pronounced like u in “bull”, but by Mr. Atkins to rhyme with “front”.
2
Why don’t you get on?
3
Language. Thomas’s first and firmest conviction is that he is a profound Orientalist and a fluent speaker of Hindustani. As a matter of fact, he depends largely on the sign-language.
4
The Choosers of the Slain.
5
Value Payable Parcels Post: in which the Government collects the money for the sender.
6
abby-nay: Not now. kul: To-morrow. hazar-ho: Wait a bit.