For, all day, we drag our burden tiring, Through the coal-dark, underground —
This article has photos of the book, the poem, and images from the survey of children working in mines relating to "Cry of The Children".
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YdWLxoHYR1E
This video shows how close, cramp, and claustrophobic the mines would be. Also, the ground is sometimes lined with rails, other times consists purely of mud and even imbedded with large rocks. This little clip is an attempt to let the readers see the harsh conditions the children working in mines had to deal with daily.
Elizabeth Browning was friends and frequent correspondent with Richard Hengist Horne. RH Horne was the assistant commissioner to an inquiry that reported the "Physical & Moral Conditions of the Children and Young Persons Employed in Mines and Manufacture." The horrific conditions that Horne related to EBB spurred her to write "Cry of the Children" (Robertson).