Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE WIND IN THE CORN, by EDWARD FORRESTER SUTTON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE WIND IN THE CORN, by                    
First Line: Summer silence dreaming downward with the cawing of the crow
Last Line: Cries the wind in the corn!
Alternate Author Name(s): Sutton, E.
Subject(s): Corn; Wind


Summer silence dreaming downward with the cawing of the crow,
Where the woodlands mount in billows, where the clearings bask and glow,
And the wind, the wind that hovers all the scented hills between,
Ripples the embattled cornfields, dashes, slashes through the green.
Here and thither, you and hither, as the long leaves slat and slither,
As the breathings fall and rise, as the shadow flows and flies,
Wind from the embattled ages that have come and gone nowhither,
A wind in the corn that cries:
"Oft of old your fathers hearkened in our rustle on the breeze
"To the song of all the future, to the fruitful centuries.
"From the soil whence we were born,
"From the land where ye were born,
"Shall a foeman reap the harvest in the sowers' spite and scorn?"
Oh, eastward out of Shasta to Monadnock and the morn
Cries the wind in the corn!

"Sprang we by the settler's cabin, with the pioneers went forth
"By the wash of southern rivers, through the lakeland of the North.
"Axe and rifle win our pathway, at their call the wild departs,
"And we wave from furrows hallowed by the blood of warrior hearts.
"Here and thither, yon and hither, wend the fighters keen and lither,
"And the forest falls and dies, and the lurking savage flies.
"Has their hardihood departed like the wind that blows nowhither?
"The wind in the corn that cries;

"Fair and broad the fields they planted; robber hands are overseas.
"What but naked steel ensureth peace to riches like to these?
"From the soil whence we were born,
"From the land where ye were born,
"Shall a sword destroy the harvest in the sowers' spite and scorn?"
Oh, from Lusk to Opelousas and the marish lands forlorn
Cries the wind in the corn!

"We that nerved your fathers' sinews, we that nourished armed men,
"Shall we feed unwarlike traders when assault intends again?
"Learn from us -- our bannered armies marshalled in their long array --
"Naught but trained and ordered legions can abide the fateful day.
"Call them hither, call them thither, lest your manhood shrink and wither,
"Lest your storied empire dies, lest your name, your honor flies --
"Empty name and empty honor -- like the wind that blows nowhither,
"The wind in the corn that cries;
"Past are ancient times and simple when each hour could face its need.
"Greatness greatly dealing gathers forces equal to the deed!
"From the soil whence we were born,
"From the land where ye were born,
"Shall the skilful sword be lacking, shall your weakness be a scorn?"
Oh, from Navesink to Napa through the great peaks rent and torn
Cries the wind in the corn!





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