Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE MOUNTAIN TOWN, by DUBOSE HEYWARD


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE MOUNTAIN TOWN, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: These are the days when I can love the town
Last Line: And understand a little, and love much.
Subject(s): Towns


These are the days when I can love the town;
Now, when the year is clean and new and sweet.
When the great mountain schooners rumble down,
White-crested, and slow-moving, fleet on fleet,
Leading a spotted heifer, or a steer,
A rangy mule or two, a pair of hounds;
To barter for a flowered calico,
A ribbon for the red-cheeked daughter's hair,
And black tobacco for the coming year.
Now there is laughter in the open square,
Complaint of brakes, and cracking of the whips,
Loud banter while the old horse-trader's mare
Is auctioned -- old songs vie with older quips.
The girls go flocking up and down the street,
A startled wonder in their hill-blue eyes,
Amazement and delight upon their lips.
Men, seeming much too large for crowding walls,
Stride down the street, and answer with a hail
The greetings of acquaintances they meet.
Boys strut the pavement in new overalls,
And trade unendingly in dogs and guns;
While wagon-hoods frame wan, madonna faces
That quiver into eager fleeting smiles,
And there is talk of undiscovered places
Above the soaring laurel-bordered miles.
Soon aflame azaleas on the mountain-side
Will smolder out and die; the laurel tide
Will sway and hesitate at summer's touch.
Then they will pass, these people that I know,
And understand a little, and love much.





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