Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE ROADMAN, by ARTHUR GLYN PRYS-JONES


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE ROADMAN, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: He is a man with stubbled, lean, grey face
Last Line: Whether I keep a road clean ... For anyone.
Subject(s): Cleanliness; Labor & Laborers; Refuse & Refuse Disposal; Wales; Work; Workers; Welshmen; Welshwomen


HE is a man with stubbled, lean, grey face,
He wears an old, grey coat, and, when it rains—
A curious cape to fend him from the weather:
His knees are tied with string, and round his legs
Are wrapped brown gaiters. He has a tall, grey hat
Which once belonged to gentry.
He is an old man—over seventy years,
And often there is dourness in his face ...
Perhaps some of the drabness of the streets
Has crept within him after all his days
Of serving in the garbage and the mud.
I see him every day, and often wonder
Whether he could have chosen otherwise
Than to be constant with his brush and cart and shovel
Keeping the road clean.
I wonder what his thought are ... if he thinks at all,
But whether he thinks or not
He does his work well.
Sometimes he makes me think
Whether I keep a road clean ... for anyone.





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