Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE HIRED MAN, by EVA K. ANGLESBURG First Line: He was an ex-artillery man Last Line: Almost one heard the caissons rumbling by. Subject(s): Memory; Soldiers | ||||||||
He was an ex-artillery man. God knows the devious paths by which he came To be day-man on a Dakota farm. Too frail for such hard tasks was that gaunt frame Burned up by evil living. Seamed and worn Was that dark face and dull those staring eyes. Yet there were times he wore his garments torn As if they were his country's uniform. Once of the light artillery, now he rode The clashing disc or drove the jingling drill, But when the four great horses forward surged. Memory, it seemed, had power to rouse him still. Out of that ruin of a man would rise The soldier, poised, alert, revitalized. As he swept past with taut reins lifted high Almost one heard the caissons rumbling by. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ALL ARMIES ARE THE SAME by ERNEST HEMINGWAY ABSENT WITH OFFICIAL LEAVE by RANDALL JARRELL PORT OF EMBARKATION by RANDALL JARRELL THE CONFESSION OF ST. JIM-RALPH by DENIS JOHNSON OPERATION MEMORY by DAVID LEHMAN BROTHER GENE by EVA K. ANGLESBURG |
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