Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


PLOWMAN by EDWIN CARLILE LITSEY

First Line: I SINK MY PLOW IN THE BARE BROWN EARTH
Last Line: THAT THE SEED MAY ENTER IN.
Subject(s): PLOWING & PLOWMEN;

I sink my plow in the bare brown earth
With the guide-rope 'round my hand.
The rich loam ripples behind the share
Like a dark wave on a strand.

My sweating horse strains straight ahead
While the trace-chain frets his side;
And sightless slugs of the under dark
From the shining plowshare slide.

A gray mouse runs from its trampled nest,
A lark sings in the sky;
While sun and wind in the furrow meet
And there like lovers lie.

A man, a horse, and a plow are we,
Far from the grinding din;
Opening the womb of Mother Earth
That the seed may enter in.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net