by Marijane Suttor

Created on: December 17, 2011   Last Updated: December 21, 2011

“In the Workhouse: Christmas Day” is a ballad written by George R. Sims that satirizes the British workhouses of the 19th century. In this poem, Sims contrasts the appearance of generosity by the members of the parish providing a Christmas dinner for the paupers, with the irony that the same people did not provide bread to a dying woman the Christmas before. The workhouses of the 19th century were the only place that the poor or those incapable of caring for themselves could turn for help in difficult times.  Unfortunately the workhouse did not have a reputation for the best living in Great Britain at the time.

In stanza one, Sims establishes that it is Christmas day in the Workhouse. As would be expected for the holiday, there are “garlands of green and holly” and the “place was a pleasant sight”.  This contrasts with images that Sims uses of paupers and the hungry line.

In stanza two, Sims creates a stark contrast between the social classes. This is illustrated with the guardians’ wives “in their furs and wrappers” who “smile and be condescending” to watch the poor eat on this day and see what they have paid for with their “rates” or taxes. In stanza three, the contrast continues by the description of the paupers as being meek and thanking the ladies, because they wouldn’t think of being rude so they can fill their stomachs.

The change in tone from gratitude to condemnation begins at the end of stanza three, when one of the paupers refuses to eat the meal that has been provided. The women and the guardians in stanza four are shocked and dismayed that anyone would be so ungrateful as to refuse the meal that was being provided. The man tells everyone in the room that he refuses to eat the meal that villains are providing. Sims uses the symbolism of “villains” “hands foul and red” to create the association that the guardians and their wives are killers with someone’s death on their hands.

Stanza five has the man being accused of being drunk, but he defends himself by saying that he is like a hunted beast, just the carcass of a man who is being torn apart and eat by vultures. The vultures are the guardians and their wives. Now he refuses to eat the feast provided by those same vultures.  Continuing in stanza six that man says that he will only tell the tale once and they won’t hear of it again. The rest of the time he does not

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