Chartist Song

By Thomas Cooper (1805–1892)

Commemorating the great Chartist demonstration in London, April 10, 1848.

THE TIME shall come when wrong shall end,

When peasant to peer no more shall bend;

When the lordly few shall lose their sway;

And the Many no more their frown obey;

Toil, brothers, toil, till the work is done,

Till the struggle is o’er and the Charter won!

The time shall come when the artisan

Shall homage no more the titled man;

When the workingmen who delve the mine

By mammon’s decree no more shall pine.

Toil, brothers, toil, till the work is done,

Till the struggle is o’er and the Charter won.

The time shall come when the weaver’s band

Shall hunger no more in their fatherland;

When the factory child can sleep till day,

And smile while it dreams of sport and play.

Toil, brothers, toil, till the work is done,

Till the struggle is o’er and the Charter won.

The time shall come when man shall hold

His brother more dear than sordid gold;

When the negro’s stain his freeborn mind

Shall sever no more from human kind.

Toil, brothers, toil, till the world is free,

Till Justice and Love hold jubilee!

The time shall come when Kingly crown

And mitre for toys of the past are shown;

When the fierce and false alike shall fall,

And mercy and truth encircle all.

Toil, brothers, toil, till the world is free,

Till Justice and Love hold jubilee!

The time shall come when earth shall be

A garden of joy, from sea to sea,

When the slaughterous sword is drawn no more,

And goodness exults from shore to shore.

Toil, brothers, toil, till the world is free,

Till goodness shall hold high jubilee!