The Silent Ones

Robert William Service

I’m just an ordinary chap
      Who comes home to his tea,
And mostly I don’t care a rap
      What people think of me;
I do my job and take my pay,
      And love of peace expound;
But as I go my patient way,
     —Don’t push me round.
      
Though I respect authority
      And order never flout,
When Law and Justice disagree
      You can include me out.
The Welfare State I tolerate
      If it is kept in bound,
But if you wish to rouse my hate
     —Just push me round.

And that’s the way with lots of us:
      We want to feel we’re free;
So labour governments we cuss
      And mock at monarchy.
Yea, we are men of secret mirth,
      And fury seldom sound;
But if you value peace on earth
     —Don’t push us round.

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