Sunday, August 21, 2011
Rich & poor, pleasure & blame
On Radio 4’s Beyond Westminster yesterday morning John Kampfner (acknowledging that it was a low blow) asked his MP guests whether there was any real difference between looting a flat screen tv & wrongly claiming for one on expenses.
To their credit the MPs recognised & acknowledged the point.
Twas ever thus, though. The privileged, when they want something, or even to indulge in a little mayhem & breaking glass, just don’t have to frighten the horses as much as do the poor.
Rich & Poor; or Saint & Sinner
THE poor man's sins are glaring;
In the face of ghostly warning
He is caught in the fact
Of an overt act …
Buying greens on a Sunday morning.
The rich man's sins are hidden
In the pomp of wealth and station;
And escape the sight
Of the children of light,
Who are wise in their generation.
The rich man has a kitchen,
And cooks to dress his dinner;
The poor who would roast
To the baker's must post,
And thus becomes a sinner.
The rich man has a cellar,
And a ready butler by him;
The poor man must steer
For his pint of beer
Where the saint can't choose but to spy him.
The rich man's painted windows
Hide the concerts of the quality;
The poor can but share
A crack'd fiddle in the air,
Which offends all sound morality.
The rich man is invisible
In the crowd of his gay society;
But the poor man's delight
Is a sore in the sight,
And a stench in the nose of piety.
