Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, STONE WALL BUILDERS, by EDITH HASKELL TAPPAN



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

STONE WALL BUILDERS, by                    
First Line: Sturdy and staunch were those new england men
Last Line: In this the land we love!
Subject(s): Labor & Laborers; New England; Stones; Walls; Work; Workers; Granite; Rocks


Sturdy and staunch were those New England men
Who piled gray rocks with patient strength and care
Along New England's borders. Summer heat,
Spring rains nor Autumn's chill
Could daunt their courage as they built, to stand.

Fathers and sons, with vigor and with power
Worked there together to build up the walls
Enclosing family pride in shape of ground.
Did not these rocks build character anew
On this New England soil?
Small wonder, then, that sons grew lithe and strong
To carry their traditions through succeeding years!

Then, if a queer-shaped rock fell out of place
And left a gaping hole, most hard to fill,
It was as natural that, within the home,
Sometimes an odd stone would roll out of bounds --
Not loved the less, but seeming not to fit,
And causing anguish to engage the wound.

Still down the decades do the stone walls trace
Emblems of our first settlers; some in disrepair
As families sometimes fallen in disrepute,
But mostly mended, standing firm and strong
As have the scions of our ancestors
In this the land we love!





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