International Labour Day is an official public holiday in various countries all over the world. The day is celebrated every year to recognise, appreciate, and respect the contribution of workers from all across the globe. International Labour Day is observed on May 1 and is also popularly known as May Day. It is celebrated widely in many countries including Cuba, India, China. There are different stories attached to the origin of the festival but the most common is about the labour class taking a stand against injustice and exploitation that they had to face. As per history, the first May Day was celebrated before independence in 1923 in Madras (now known as Chennai) by the Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan. On that day, a red flag was hoisted that symbolised Labour Day in India for the first time ever.
To celebrate the spirit of May Day and understand its importance better, here are some beautiful and meaningful Labour Day poems that you must read.
12 Amazing Labour Day Poems That You Must Read
Here are some of the most amazing Labour Day poem in English that you should read to understand the significance of the day.
Always Finish
This poem about Labour Day is written by an anonymous poet and it explains that one should do all tasks with complete dedication.
“If a task is once begun,
Never leave it till it’s done.
Be the labour great or small,
Do it well or not at all.”
I Can
Ralph Waldo Emerson has written many Labour Day poems and this one talks about the responsibility of youth to always be ready to work hard.
“So nigh is grandeur to our dust,
So near is God to man,
When Duty whispers low, Thou must,
The youth replies, I can.”
Not In Vain
This poem on Labour Day by Emily Dickinson talks about how one should always live to support and motivate others in life.
“If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain:
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.”
Psalm Of Those Who Go Forth Before Daylight
This Labour Day poetry in English is written by Carl Sandburg talks about the importance of different professions in the world.
“The policeman buys shoes slow and careful; the teamster buys gloves slow and careful; they take care of their feet and hands; they live on their feet and hands.
The milkman never argues; he works alone and no one speaks to him; the city is asleep when he is on the job; he puts a bottle on six hundred porches and calls it a day’s work; he climbs two hundred wooden stairways; two horses are company for him; he never argues.
The rolling-mill men and the sheet-steel men are brothers of cinders; they empty cinders out of their shoes after the day’s work; they ask their wives to fix burnt holes in the knees of their trousers; their necks and ears are covered with a smut; they scour their necks and ears; they are brothers of cinders.”
The Village Blacksmith
This short poem on Labour Day in English by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow explains beautifully that life always goes on.
“Toiling,—rejoicing,—sorrowing,
Onward through life he goes;
Each morning sees some task begin,
Each evening sees it close;
Something attempted, something done,
Has earned a night’s repose.
Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
For the lesson thou hast taught!
Thus at the flaming forge of life
Our fortunes must be wrought;
Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
Each burning deed and thought.”
Tomorrow
This poem about Labour Day by Edgar Guest says that one should always treat any work on their hand as their greatest work.
“The greatest of workers this man would have been
Tomorrow.
The world would have known him, had he ever seen
Tomorrow.
But the fact is he died and he faded from view,
And all that he left here when living was through
Was a mountain of things he intended to do
Tomorrow.”
They Who Tread The Path of Labour
This Labour Day poem by Henry Van Dyke says that there’s no better way to live than by loving what you do and doing what you love.
“They who tread the path of labour follow where My feet have trod;
They who work without complaining, do the holy will of God;
Every task, however simple, sets the soul that does it free;
Every deed of love and mercy, done to man is done to Me.
Nevermore thou needest seek Me; I am with thee everywhere;
Raise the stone, and thou shalt find Me; cleave the wood, and I am there.”
They Earned The Right
This poem on Labour Day by Edgar Guest explains that no work is ever big or small and every task is respectable.
“Boy, this verse is fact, not fiction, all the fellows I have named
Worked for years for wages and were never once ashamed.
Dirt and grease were their companions, better friends than linen white;
Better friends than ease and softness, golf or dancing every night.
Now in evening clothes you see them in the nation’s banquet halls.
But they earned the right to be there, years ago, in overalls.”
Sonnet XIX: On His Blindness
You must read this poem about Labour Day by John Milton that says that life is successful when it’s utilised productively.
“When I consider how my light is spent,
Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest He returning chide,
“Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?”
I fondly ask; But patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies “God doth not need
Either man’s work or his own gifts. Who best
Bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best. His state
Is kingly: thousands at His bidding speed
And post o’er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait.”
Results & Roses
This short poem on Labour Day in English by Edgar Guest encourages you to work hard to reach your goal.
“The man who wants a garden fair,
Or small or very big,
With flowers growing here and there,
Must bend his back and dig.
The things are mighty few on earth
That wishes can attain.
Whate’er we want of any worth
We’ve got to work to gain.
It matters not what goal you seek
Its secret here reposes:
You’ve got to dig from week to week
To get Results or Roses.”
Also Read: Labour Day Quotes
Psalm of Life
This poem about Labour Day by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow explains that work is worship.
“Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate ;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labour and to wait.”
It Couldn’t Be Done
This beautiful Labour Day poem in English by Edgar Guest tells you that failure should never stop you from trying and working hard.
“There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you, one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle in with a bit of a girn,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That “cannot be done,” and you’ll do it.”
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Hoping that these amazing Labour Day poems reminded you that work is worship.
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