Rest from the strain and scurry

Of Shopdom's servitude, they still must wake

Some weary hours, though hands with fever shake

And nerves are racked with worry.

"Though the great streets are still, the shutters up,

Gas flares within, and ere they sleep or sup

These serfs of Competition

Must clean, and sort and sum. There's much to do

Behind those scenes set fair to public view

By hucksters of position.