Tag Archives: Hobo

“Beggar to Beggar Cried” by William Butler Yeats [w/ Audio]

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"Time to put off the world and go somewhere
 And find my health again in the sea air,"
 Beggar to beggar cried, being frenzy-struck,
 "And make my soul before my pate is bare;
 
"And get a comfortable wife and house
 To rid me of the devil in my shoes,"
 Beggar to beggar cried, being frenzy-struck,
 "And the worse devil that is between my thighs.
 
"And though I'd marry with a comely lass,
 She need not be too comely -- let it pass,"
 Beggar to beggar cried, being frenzy-struck,
 "But there's a devil in a looking glass.

"Nor should she be too rich, because the rich
 Are driven by wealth as beggars by the itch,"
 Beggar to beggar cried, being frenzy-struck,
 "And cannot have a humorous happy speech.

"And there I'll grow respected at my ease,
 And hear amid the garden's nightly peace,"
 Beggar to beggar cried, being frenzy-struck,
 "The wind-blown clamor of the barnacle-geese."

A Day in the Life of a Hobo [Free Verse]

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I saw an old man
nestled in a nook
beside the sidewalk, 

a plastic jug 
of night diesel
beside well-worn, 
second-hand boots,

combing greasy hair
with parted fingers, 

and rubbing his eyes -
child-style -
with loose fists.

He was awake at an hour
to get to a job
that he didn’t have.

Instead, he’d amble / stagger
along the riverside,

taking frequent stops 
to taste the bathtub concoction 
made in the bathtub 
that he didn’t have.

And somewhere,
at some undefined hour,
he’d drift into 
a restless death-slumber
to repeat it all again —
“Groundhog Day” style.

BOOK REVIEW: The Road by Jack London

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The RoadThe Road by Jack London
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amazon page

If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to be a freight-hopping hobo, you need look no further than Jack London’s autobiographical account of the hobo life. If you’re like me, you probably didn’t know London had been a hobo, or anything about the man other than that he wrote a book called “The Call of the Wild” that you read in high school. When you read “The Road” you’ll learn skills like how to avoid getting kicked off a train, how to survive being jailed for vagrancy, and how to tell a story that will get one a free meal. The events of this book took place in the 1890’s, during the worst economic depression prior to the Great Depression, and London—like scads of others—was out of work. (However, London does admit that the appeal of this adventurous lifestyle was a major factor in his own movement in these circles.)

The early part of the book deals with London’s life as a free-wheeling hobo riding the rails, and the latter part delves into his time in Kelley’s Army—a.k.a. Coxey’s Army. This was a confederacy of out-of-work men who engaged in protests and lived off the charity of compassionate folk.

It’s a short book, only about 200 pages. In nine chapters it tells London’s story over this phase of his life. Sometimes it reads like a memoir, and sometimes it reads like a manual.

I’d highly recommend this book. It was readably written and fascinating. While it was written and published during first decade of the 20th century, it’s about the late 19th century—and, let’s face it, the 19th century got short shrift in our education because—except for the Civil War—it just wasn’t sexy. But London will intrigue you with stories of America’s dark underbelly.

[Oh yeah, and you can get it for free on Kindle. And, it’s one of the most interesting and readable public domain free reads that I’ve gotten.]
View all my reviews