They said he'd starve When he bought the plot Of rough side-hill, And the old woodlot; But he liked the place, Though it wasn't much . . . And the tired old soil Loved his kindly touch And his honest plodding To and fro As he tended things, And made them grow. He fenced the pasture And mowed the brush, And the grass came swift And thick and lush And the brown cow watched, Round-eyed and glad, This man who was all Of a god she had. He mended sills And the stable floor And he patched the roof And he hung a door. He planted trees, And he mowed the hay Till his shoulders ached From the rhythmic way A scythe must go If 'twould cut just right -- And the hay was in Ere the damp of night. And never an idle Hour he knew, For with stock to tend And a garden, too He worked from dawn Until darkness fell, When he watered the horse At the fern-cool well -- Then back for an hour Where a dim light swung Through the rambling barn, Where a lantern hung . . . He loved the place, And he loves it still; This rock-strewn patch Of a sheer side-hill -- This plot he lifted From weeds and stone To a neat, trim farm That he's proud to own . . . Though his years are endlessly Full, and long, Yet his heart keeps singing A high, glad song. Oh, he hasn't rank, And he hasn't gold; But he has contentment A hundred-fold. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SEVEN TWILIGHTS: 3 by CONRAD AIKEN I'VE NEVER SEEN SUCH A REAL HARD TIME BEFORE' by HAYDEN CARRUTH LOST ILLUSIONS by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE MOTHER by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE POET SPEAKS by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE WORD OF AN ENGINEER by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON THE RUSSIAN ARMY GOES INTO BAKU by ALICIA SUSKIN OSTRIKER |