Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE GATE by ELIZABETH JANE COATSWORTH

First Line: THE DUST IS THICK ALONG THE ROAD
Last Line: "SHADOWED COOL BY A CASSIA TREE."
Subject(s): FARM LIFE; AGRICULTURE; FARMERS;

The dust is thick along the road;
The fields are scorching in the sun;
My wife has ever a bitter word
To greet me when the day is done.

The neighbors rest beside the gate
But half their words are high and shrill.
My son is over-young to help;
The fields are very hard to till.

But in the dusk I raise my eyes --
The poet's words come back to me:
"In the moon there is a white jade gate
Shadowed cool by a cassia tree."




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