Thirty Bob a Week - John Devidson

Thirty Bob a Week - John Davidson (1857-1909)

I couldn't touch a stop and turn a screw,

And set the blooming world a-work for me,

Like such as cut their teeth -- I hope, like you --

On the handle of a skeleton gold key;

I cut mine on a leek, which I eat it every week:

I'm a clerk at thirty bob as you can see.

But I don't allow it's luck and all a toss;

There's no such thing as being starred and crossed;

It's just the power of some to be a boss,

And the bally power of others to be bossed:

I face the music, sir; you bet I ain't a cur;

Strike me lucky if I don't believe I'm lost!

For like a mole I journey in the dark,

A-travelling along the underground

From my Pillar'd Halls and broad Suburbean Park,

To come the daily dull official round;

And home again at night with my pipe all alight,

A-scheming how to count ten bob a pound.

And it's often very cold and very wet,

And my misses stitches towels for a hunks;

And the Pillar'd Halls is half of it to let--

Three rooms about the size of travelling trunks.

And we cough, my wife and I, to dislocate a sigh,

When the noisy little kids are in their bunks.

But you never hear her do a growl or whine,

For she's made of flint and roses, very odd;

And I've got to cut my meaning rather fine,

Or I'd blubber, for I'm made of greens and sod:

So p'r'haps we are in Hell for all that I can tell,

And lost and damn'd and served up hot to God.

I ain't blaspheming, Mr. Silver-tongue;

I’m saying things a bit beyond your art:

Of all the rummy starts you ever sprung,

Thirty bob a week's the rummiest start!

With your science and your books and your the'ries about spooks,

Did you ever hear of looking in your heart?

I didn't mean your pocket, Mr., no:

I mean that having children and a wife,

With thirty bob on which to come and go,

Isn't dancing to the tabor and the fife:

When it doesn't make you drink, by Heaven! it makes you think,

And notice curious items about life.

I step into my heart and there I meet

A god-almighty devil singing small,

Who would like to shout and whistle in the street,

And squelch the passers flat against the wall;

If the whole world was a cake he had the power to take,

He would take it, ask for more, and eat them all.

And I meet a sort of simpleton beside,

The kind that life is always giving beans;

With thirty bob a week to keep a bride

He fell in love and married in his teens:

At thirty bob he stuck; but he knows it isn't luck:

He knows the seas are deeper than tureens.

And the god-almighty devil and the fool

That meet me in the High Street on the strike,

When I walk about my heart a-gathering wool,

Are my good and evil angels if you like.

And both of them together in every kind of weather

Ride me like a double-seated bike.

That's rough a bit and needs its meaning curled.

But I have a high old hot un in my mind --

A most engrugious notion of the world,

That leaves your lightning 'rithmetic behind:

I give it at a glance when I say 'There ain't no chance,

Nor nothing of the lucky-lottery kind.'

And it's this way that I make it out to be:

No fathers, mothers, countries, climates -- none;

Not Adam was responsible for me,

Nor society, nor systems, nary one:

A little sleeping seed, I woke -- I did, indeed --

A million years before the blooming sun.

I woke because I thought the time had come;

Beyond my will there was no other cause;

And everywhere I found myself at home,

Because I chose to be the thing I was;

And in whatever shape of mollusc or of ape

I always went according to the laws.

I was the love that chose my mother out;

I joined two lives and from the union burst;

My weakness and my strength without a doubt

Are mine alone for ever from the first:

It's just the very same with a difference in the name

As 'Thy will be done.' You say it if you durst!

They say it daily up and down the land

As easy as you take a drink, it's true;

But the difficultest go to understand,

And the difficultest job a man can do,

Is to come it brave and meek with thirty bob a week,

And feel that that's the proper thing for you.

It's a naked child against a hungry wolf;

It's playing bowls upon a splitting wreck;

It's walking on a string across a gulf

With millstones fore-and-aft about your neck;

But the thing is daily done by many and many a one;

And we fall, face forward, fighting, on the deck.

Notes

See Andrew Turnbull's edition (pp. 63-65) for Davidson's minor changes from the first Yellow Book text.
touch a stop: presumably idiomatic but not found (a stop can be a hole in an instrument, blown to start a shift for workers?)

a skeleton gold key: one that opens all doors and that is thus 'golden,' a money maker.

leek:                            onion.

thirty bob:                 thirty shillings, or one and a half pounds sterling.

a toss:                         a toss-up, a flip of a coin.

starred and crossed: star-crossed, fated for disaster (an allusion to the prologue of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.)

bally:                         intensifying adjective, like 'bloody.'

face the music:        do not run away from adverse circumstances.

underground:          public subway train system in London.

Pillar'd Halls:         ironically, for his lodging.
Suburbean:             suburban, with a pun on "beans"? (see 50)

come:                       make.

 i.e. how to stretch ten shillings into twenty (that is, a pound)

misses:                    Mrs., wife.
hunks:                     bad-tempered, miserly person.

to let:                      he must rent out half his lodgings to others.

rather fine:            laconically, without emotion.

greens and sod:   vegetables and earth.

 rummy starts:     bad things to happen.

spooks:                 ghosts, spirits, souls.

the tabor and the fife: small drum and pipe, usually played by the same person.

tureens:               deep covered serving dishes.

on the strike:      looking to make money.

a-gathering wool: day-dreaming.

hot un:                 really interesting one.

engrugious:        malapropism (mutated word intended for a true word) for "egregious."

nary one:            never a one.

mollusc:              in general, shellfish, snails, clams, etc.

'Thy will be done!': from the Lord's Prayer (Luke 11.2): "When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth."

go: thing gone through, task.

‘Thirty Bob a Week’ is a monologue of a poor clerk struggling to make both ends meet on a meager salary. T. S. Eliot – a celebrated critic and poet of modern times – said later how this poem had a ‘terrific impact’ on him in his formative years. The word ‘bob’ means former British coin – the Shilling.  The poem deals with the story of wretched life of a poor clerk whose earning is thirty bob a week.

The clerk doesn’t believe in luck. He says that there is no such thing as starred and crossed. He says that it is just the power of some to be a boss. He further adds that it is the fate of others to be bossed. He makes his journey in the dark like a mole. He comes to the office daily but feels that it is the daily dull official round. He comes to home at night with his pipe all alight. His house is often very cold and very wet. It has three rooms of the size of traveling trunks. His noisy little kids sleep in their bunk beds.

In spite of all these constraints his wife never growls or whines. She is such nice woman made of flints and roses, which is very odd to compare. He opines that perhaps they are in the Hell. That is what he can tell all the time. When he cannot afford a drink that is the only thing left is to think. He questions if we have ever heard of looking into our hearts, with all our science, our books and our theories of spooks.  He finds God in his heart but he has no good opinion even about the almighty. He thinks if the whole world was a cake and if he had the power to take, he would take it, ask for more and eat it all.

He fell in love and married in teens. He felt that both his good and evil angels ride him like a double seated bike in every kind of weather. He has no belief in chance or lucky lottery. He says no fathers, mothers, countries, climates – none was responsible for him. Even Adam was not responsible for him. No society, no systems, nor any one was responsible for him. Thus, he clarifies his stand.  Everywhere found himself at home, because he chose to be the thing he was. He always went according to the laws. He has the love that chose his mother out. He joined two lives and from the union he burst. He admits that his weakness and his strength are his alone for ever from the first without any doubt. The difficultiest job a man can do is to live with thirty bob a week and to feel that that is the proper thing for him. It is like a naked child against a hungry wolf. It is playing bowls upon a splitting wreck. It is walking on a string across a gulf. Lastly, he says ‘we fall, face forward, fighting on the deck’.

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THE DEAR DEPARTED – Stanley Houghton

Stanley Houghton's ‘The Dear Departed’ is a social play on the condition of the elderly people who are being abandoned and neglected by their own children. The play is optimistic that even elderly people may chose to live merrily, despite their old age. They can even opt to marry at old age to lead a happy life.

In the beginning of the play Mrs.Slater goes to offer something to grandfather Abel Merryweather and finds him quite cold, not responding at all. He is motionless. So, Mrs.Slater declares that the grandfather is no more.

Accordingly, her sister and her husband, the Jordans are informed about the sudden demise of the grandfather. Mrs.Slater and her husband are busy making arrangement for the mourning. They are expecting the Jordans to join them. They start using the various materials used by the grandfather. Victoria, daughter of Mrs.Slater does not like all these but reluctantly she is helping her parents in these matters. Victoria is asked to keep a watch on the main door to inform her mother about the arrival of the Jordans. Mrs.Slater is not willing to share everything of her father's belongings with Mrs.Jordan. When all these arrangements are being done, the Jordans arrive to join them.

The family members start detailed conversation on the deeds of the grandfather, planning the details of the obituary announcement in the papers and the insurance premium payment. They start discussion over the distribution of grandfather's belongings among them.

Surprisingly, at this point of time, the play witnesses a turn of events. Victoria who has been sent to the grandfather's room, returns very scared. She tells everyone that grandfather is alive. To everybody's surprise, grandfather is seen coming downstairs. He is surprised to find the Jordans. No one dares to tell him that he has been declared 'dead'. While taking tea, the truth comes out and the grandfather gets to know how his daughters have been in a hurry to divide his possessions among them.

On knowing the harsh reality, the grandfather decides not to live with any of his daughters. He even expresses his final intention to change his ‘Will’. He declares that he is going to give everything to Mrs. Shorrocks whom he will marry. He feels that by marrying Mrs. Shorrocks he will have someone to look after him wholeheartedly without considering him to be a burden.

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The Influence of Science – E. N. DA. C. Andrade and Julian Huxley

Part – 1

Ignorance is the root cause of wrong ideas and useless superstitious practices. Among the primitive tribes there was hardly any scientific knowledge which can give them better explanation for all mysterious happenings around. The natural occurrences such as the sun rising, the sun setting, the changing of moon, the droughts, storms, earthquakes, floods and disease are all believed to be the mystery or the influence of good and bad spirits. These beliefs cannot be called superstitions as long as no better scientific explanation is available. When scientific knowledge spreads these beliefs of good or bad spirits influence on natural occurrences can be considered as superstitions. 

Thus, as science progresses, superstitions ought to grow less.  But surprisingly the superstitions are still lingering on in civilized societies.   We need not look down upon savage tribes for holding such beliefs and ideas. But, in the most civilized nations a great many stupid superstitions exist and are believed in by great many people. Even today some people do not want to sit at the thirteenth table; others do not light three cigarettes from a single match stick and some others do not like to start anything important on Fridays. Even today many people buy charms and talismans because they think they will bring them luck.

The most terrible example of superstition is the belief in witchcraft. In Western Europe during 16^th and 17^th centuries millions of people were killed on the charges that they were found guilty of witchcraft. The persons prosecuting them on such charges of practicing witchcraft also acted on superstitious ideas based on false principles. 

In the civilized nations the laws are made on the basis of principles which are unproved assumptions. For instance, it is held as a principle that white people are by nature superior to the people of other colours. The ancient Greeks believed that they were by nature superior to the barbarians of Northern and Western Europe. 

It is, however true that the increase of scientific knowledge reduces superstitions and also baseless guessing and arguments. Civilized people do not argue and get angry about how water is composed of. They may be frightened at a volcanic eruption or an outbreak of plague but they do not try to claim that some mysterious power can stop such calamities or they do not blame somebody on the plotting of witchcraft.

The astronomical science has entirely changed our views about the place of man in nature as well as in cosmos. Scientific knowledge has changed our ideas about heredity, about the disasters like earthquakes and disease and also it has given us strength and ability to sustain them.

Part – 2 

Science not only provides knowledge about nature. It also provides means for controlling nature. Science affects our general ideas and practical affairs of everyday life. The invention of compass and the advanced designs of ships improved sea transport. Then came the steam engine. The ships and railways with steam engines completely changed the business of travel and transport of goods. Of late, the invention of the internal combustion engine (diesel engine) again made possible the fast moving motor cars and then the aeroplane.  Thus advancements in science have brought newer changes in our life-style. 

The railways powered with steam engines and the aeroplanes brought revolution in sending letters and newspapers faster than ever before. Invention of dynamo (electricity producing device) brought rapid change not only in communication systems but also every walk of life in human journey.  First telegraph, then telephone, then radio, wireless communication systems and then television has changed the entire world.

The electric lighting of the houses has replaced the age old methods of lighting of houses like candles, oil-lamps, gas lights etc. Thus, scientific advancement has influenced in all spheres of human life and brought unimaginable change in every day’s life of a man.

The practical applications of science are not always benefitted us. It has made us greedy and selfish. We are recklessly exploiting the natural resources. Our industrial civilization makes new demands for sources of power. Mining provides us this resources. Every day newspapers, we read at our homes demands the reckless cutting down of forests to provide wood for making of newsprint.

Without science modern civilization would not have been possible. Applied science transports people from one place to other place. The factories need a lot fuel. The burning of the huge quantity of fuel has created air pollution causing deadly diseases. Health is another problem of modern city life. The air pollution, water pollution, the insecticides, pesticides have all led to so many health hazards. Again science has been trying to find remedies for all these diseases. Fresh inventions and discoveries create some more problems and that necessiciates further inventions and discoveries. Sanitation is another major problem of our civilized cities.

The way human life has steadily changed. About ten thousand years ago, man lived solely depending on hunting. A settled and civilised life only began when agriculture was discovered. From then to this date, civilization has always been changing. Ancient Egypt – Greece – the Roman Empire – the Middle Ages – The Renaissance – the Age of modern science of modern nations – have succeeded one after the other. History has never stood still. During the last few years the change has been even more than usual. We have now to be more particular about economic and social change, Science and Scientific knowledge will alone help us. We have to learn with the help of science how to control our own destiny.  

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