Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, LOOKING ON, by WALT MASON


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

LOOKING ON, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I like to linger in the shade, close to the pail
Last Line: I am happy in the shade, with my tall jug of lemonade.
Subject(s): Labor & Laborers; Work; Workers


I LIKE to linger in the shade, close to the pail of lemonade, and watch the
honest sons of toil get busy with the fertile soil. I like to see them shock the

wheat, out in the blinding glare of heat, the great strong men who do not tire,

and all their labors I admire. I wonder at the giant strength that they display,

the whole day's length, and wish I had such thews as theirs—I'm soft from
riding easy chairs—I envy them the appetite which makes coarse fodder a
delight, I envy them the sleep profound they know when slumbertime comes round;

I envy them, but do not flee from my retreat beneath a tree. I often counsel
other men to get back to the soil again, to simply live and labor hard, and work

away their surplus lard. But this soft place beneath a tree is plenty good
enough for me. The men who toil with might and main, who plow the glebe and reap

the grain, receive my earnest, ardent praise, and I embalm them in my lays; and

I am happy in the shade, with my tall jug of lemonade.





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