Three wives sat up in the light-house tower, And they trimm’d the lamps as the sun went down; They look’d at the squall, and they look’d at the shower, And the night wrack came rolling up ragged and brown!
[2] Musicologist Derek B. Scott credits Kingsley as one of the founders of the Christian Socialist Movement in the United Kingdom, noting that the line, "Men must work and women must weep," became a catchphrase.
In 1883, English painter Walter Langley created "For Men Must Work and Women Must Weep", a watercolour painting based on Kingsley's poem.
[5] The song (as arranged by Hullah) was frequently sung by popular vocalists such as Antoinette Sterling and Charlotte Sainton-Dolby, each of whom gave distinctly different interpretations.
"[6] According to a text by Harold Simpson, when Sterling finished performing the song at her London debut, "there was a tumult of applause; people rose in their places and cheered, waving hats and handkerchiefs in their excitement.
Many more recent recordings closely follow the arrangement by Rogers, such as The Duhks on their Migrations album (2006), and The Once on their self-titled 2010 release, but each giving their own rendering.
When visitors enter the room, a motion sensor triggers a voice recording of the poem, read by actor and village resident Joss Ackland.