THE sun flings lengthening shadows through the trees That green the village street. They come to life, The houses that have seemed to sleep all day. The evening meal is over, dishes done, And prim, trim women sit and rock and knit Upon the porches, read the village news Recorded in the paper, out today, Or move about the yards to give their plants Their evening watering, or chat across the hedge With friendly neighbors on the other side, Or swap rose-cuttings and geranium slips. The men, shirt-sleeved, walk leisurely behind Their lawn-mowers, or rake and sweep their paths, Or tie their vines up to their trellises— Small, pleasant tasks, with which they rest themselves At evening, when their day of work is done. The children call and shout there in the street, Or play at hide-and-seek from yard to yard. And arm in arm young lovers stroll in pairs, Bound for the moving-pictures in the square. The sun has dropped, now, low, behind the hill— The high, blue hill that rises to the west. The dark leaps on; high up, a sudden star Blooms out like some pale flower; a thin, young moon Hangs like a silver string caught in the trees, And in the houses lights begin to glow. Here on the street another day is done— So like the last day and the coming one— So like this street to other village streets! And yet the total of such days is—Life, The sum of streets like this—America! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO A PACIFIST FRIEND by GEORGE SANTAYANA WASHING-DAY by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD AN EPITAPH by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE LAST WORDS TO A DUMB FRIEND by THOMAS HARDY HYMNS OF THE MARSHES: SUNRISE by SIDNEY LANIER TO F - (MRS. FRANCES SARGENT OSGOOD) by EDGAR ALLAN POE BARBARA FRIETCHIE [SEPTEMBER 13, 1862] by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER TO A FLOWER by CORRINNE M. ARTHUR THE LAY OF ST. CUTHBERT; OR THE DEVIL'S DINNER-PARTY by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM |