From the pit's mouth men pour, a stream of black,
Into a world remade since they last night
Dropped down the shaft—a world arrayed in white,
Bewildering and bright
As for a child's delight—

Into a world apparelled in white light,
Unsmirched as yet by any smutch of black
From the dark smoke-coil of the chimneystack;
And shoulders, drooping slack,
And aching chest and back

Are braced, as each in memory skips back—
A bairn once more, with eyes that kindle bright,
At the first waking from the sleep of night,
To the dazzle and delight
Of a new world of white.