Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SUBURBAN'S LIFE, by WILLIAM STEWARD GORDON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SUBURBAN'S LIFE, by                    
First Line: Across his field the farmer trudged
Last Line: For the child of the city and land.
Subject(s): Country Life; Fields; Suburbs; Pastures; Meadows; Leas


Across his field the farmer trudged
In the hard old-fashioned way—
Through Winter's mire
And Summer's fire
For thirteen hours a day.

And his wife bore a heavier burden,
And shortened life's little span
As mother, and nurse,
And cook, and worse,
As a sort of a hired man.

And the cry went up from the country:
"O City, give us your light,
And your captive fire
That speeds the wire
With the news at morn and night.

"And give us the spirit of Progress,
For we covet the highest goal.
With harnessed powers,
Give respite hours
To garnish the mind and soul."

But the city itself was a Prison
With its rush and din and strife—
With the stifling air
And the sordid glare
Of an artificial life.

And the City cried: "O Country,
Give us of your magic wealth—
The bells at dawn
On the clover lawn
And the riches of home and health—

"And the russet robes of Autumn,
Afar from the stress and strain,
Where flocks of sheep
Like billows creep
Across the rolling plain."

And the Angel of Life made answer:
"Make the lot of both complete!"
And he poured the cream
Of each extreme
Where the city and country meet.

So the City and Country were wedded
And none can put them apart,
For the blush of health
And the glow of wealth
Is the blending of mead and mart.

Now, life is a bridge of glory
On which the angels stand,
And heav'n bends down
With a jeweled crown
For the child of the City and Land.





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