Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


PRAIRIE FOLKS: SETTLERS by HAMLIN GARLAND

First Line: ABOVE THEM SOARS A DAZZLING SKY
Last Line: BEHIND THE SNARLING PLOUGH.
Subject(s): FARM LIFE; PRAIRIES; AGRICULTURE; FARMERS; PLAINS;

Above them soars a dazzling sky,
In winter blue and clear as steel,
In summer like an arctic sea
Wherein vast icebergs drift and reel
And melt like sudden sorcery.

Beneath them plains stretch far and fair,
Rich with sunlight and with rain;
Vast harvests ripen with their care
And fill with overplus of grain
Their square, great bins.

Yet still they strive! I see them rise
At dawn-light, going forth to toil:
The same salt sweat has filled my eyes,
My feet have trod the self-same soil
Behind the snarling plough.



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