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Angela Morgan's "Work: A Song of Triumph" · The Daily Poem

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  [music]
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  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to The Daily Poem, a podcast from Goldberry Studios.
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm Sean Johnson, and today is Monday, August 3rd, 2026.
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  SPEAKER_00: Today's poem is by Angela Morgan.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's called Work, A Song of Triumph.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's very much a Monday poem.
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  SPEAKER_00: Depending on your disposition,
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  SPEAKER_00: it might be the kind of poem that you need to hear on a Monday,
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  SPEAKER_00: or maybe it's the kind of poem that...
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  SPEAKER_00: It represents the iron fist of Mondays beating you over the head with
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  SPEAKER_00: a sentiment you don't quite believe.
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  SPEAKER_00: And I say that because there's a little bit of a tonal ambiguity in the poem,
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  SPEAKER_00: and perhaps unavoidably it strays into overly industrial images at one point.
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  SPEAKER_00: I think it's ultimately up to the hearer or the reader
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  SPEAKER_00: to decide how much these touches are ironic or sincere.
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  SPEAKER_00: There is This is a thing that has always existed and has always had dignity to it,
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  SPEAKER_00: but it does happen sometimes that the same voices that want to uphold the dignity
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  SPEAKER_00: of work can also be Wander into strange language about domination and control so
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  SPEAKER_00: that work ceases to be a glorious end and is instead a means to some kind of power
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  SPEAKER_00: that maybe was never intended as the natural fruit of our labor.
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  SPEAKER_00: All that to say, there's plenty in this poem for you to tease out on first or multiple listens.
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  SPEAKER_00: Here is Work, A Song of Triumph.
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  SPEAKER_00: Work, thank God for the might of it,
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  SPEAKER_00: the ardor,
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  SPEAKER_00: the urge,
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  SPEAKER_00: the delight of it,
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  SPEAKER_00: work that springs from the heart's desire, setting the brain and the soul on fire.
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  SPEAKER_00: Oh, what is so good as the heat of it,
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  SPEAKER_00: and what is so glad as the beat of it,
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  SPEAKER_00: and what is so kind as the stern command, challenging brain and heart and hand?
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  SPEAKER_00: Work, thank God for the pride of it,
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  SPEAKER_00: For the beautiful conquering tide of it,
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  SPEAKER_00: Sweeping the life in its furious flood,
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  SPEAKER_00: Thrilling the arteries,
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  SPEAKER_00: cleansing the blood,
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  SPEAKER_00: Mastering stupor and dull despair, Moving the dreamer to do and dare.
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  SPEAKER_00: Oh, what is so good as the urge of it,
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  SPEAKER_00: And what is so glad as the surge of it,
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  SPEAKER_00: And what is so strong as the summons deep, Rousing the torpid soul from sleep?
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  SPEAKER_00: Work, thank God for the pace of it, for the terrible, keen, swift race of it.
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  SPEAKER_00: Fiery steeds in full control, nostrils a-quiver to greet the goal.
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  SPEAKER_00: Work, the power that drives behind, guiding the purposes, taming the mind.
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  SPEAKER_00: Holding the runaway wishes back,
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  SPEAKER_00: reining the will to one steady track,
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  SPEAKER_00: speeding the energies faster, faster, triumphing over disaster.
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  SPEAKER_00: Oh, what is so good as the pain of it,
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  SPEAKER_00: what is so great as the gain of it,
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  SPEAKER_00: and what is so kind as the cruel goad forcing us on through the rugged road?
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  SPEAKER_00: Work, thank God,
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  SPEAKER_00: for the swing of it,
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  SPEAKER_00: for the clamoring,
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  SPEAKER_00: hammering ring of it,
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  SPEAKER_00: passion and labor daily hurled on the mighty anvils of the world.
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  SPEAKER_00: Oh, what is so fierce as the flame of it,
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  SPEAKER_00: and what is so huge as the aim of it,
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  SPEAKER_00: thundering on through dearth and doubt,
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  SPEAKER_00: calling the plan of the maker out,
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  SPEAKER_00: work the titan,
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  SPEAKER_00: work the friend,
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  SPEAKER_00: shaping the earth to a glorious end,
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  SPEAKER_00: draining the swamps and blasting the hills, doing whatever the spirit wills.
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  SPEAKER_00: Rending a continent apart to answer the dream of the master heart.
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  SPEAKER_00: Thank God for a world where none may shirk.
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  SPEAKER_00: Thank God for the splendor of work.
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  SPEAKER_00: This has been The Daily Poem.
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  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening.
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