Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE PRAIRIE SCHOOL, by ISABEL ECCLESTONE MACKAY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE PRAIRIE SCHOOL, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The sweet west wind, the prairie school
Last Line: A legacy to those who come from those who come no more.
Subject(s): Books; Prairies; Schools; Teaching & Teachers; Reading; Plains; Students


THE sweet west wind, the prairie school a break in the yellow wheat,
The prairie trail that wanders by to the place where the four winds meet—
A trail with never an end at all to the children's eager feet.

The morning scents, the morning sun, a morning sky so blue
The distance melts to meet it till both are lost to view
In a little line of glory where the new day beckons through—

And out of the glow, the children: a whoop and a calling gay,
A clink of lunch-pails swinging as they clash in mimic fray,
A shout and a shouting echo from a world as young as they!

The prairie school! The well-tramped earth, so ugly and so dear,
The piney steps where teacher stands, a saucy gopher near,
A rough-cut pole where the flag flies up to a shrill voiced children's cheer.

So stands the outpost! Time and change will crowd its widening door,
Big with the dreams we visioned and the hopes we battled for—
A legacy to those who come from those who come no more.





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