Classic and Contemporary Poetry
NEW-MOWN HAY, by MARGARET ELIZABETH MUNSON SANGSTER Poet's Biography First Line: Sweet, oh sweet, from the fields to-day Last Line: Of hours in grateful trusting spent. Alternate Author Name(s): Van Deth, Gerrit, Mrs. Subject(s): Mothers; Old Age | ||||||||
SWEET, oh sweet, from the fields to-day Wafts the breath of the new-mown hay. Sewing away in a happy dream, I sit in the porch with my long white seam. The very silence is like a tune, Sung to the golden afternoon. While the house is still, and the meadows lie Fast asleep 'neath the radiant sky. Only at intervals, now and then, I hear the farmer call to his men. And the farmer's voice is dear to me As ever a mortal voice can be. You may talk of the love of youth and maid, Of two in childhood, perhaps, who played Together by rill and fount and tree, Till their hearts had grown one heart to be; You may tell of the loyal faith and life Of the husband dear and the gentle wife; But the widowed mother leans closest on The tender strength of her only son. Ah! what if that farmer of mine one day Should seek him a bride, as well he may, And bring her home! Would I be loath, Mother and friend, to live for both? For somehow the scent of the new-mown hay Carries me back to a far-off day, When my silver hair was in waves of brown, When my bashful glances kept looking down, And swift to my cheek, in a sudden red, Mounted the blush, at a soft word said. Truly the days of my youth were sweet, Ere the path was rough to my toiling feet. Truly the morning of life was blest, And yet in sooth is the evening best; For I've learned the lesson that joys must fly, And the proudest hopes, like flowers, die. But God abides in his heaven, and he Will never forget to care for me. Sweet, oh sweet, is the new-mown hay, Wafting its breath from the fields to-day. Sweet is the golden afternoon, With its silence rhythmic as a tune, And dear to the soul is the calm content Of hours in grateful trusting spent. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AT EIGHTY I CHANGE MY VIEW by DAVID IGNATOW FAWN'S FOSTER-MOTHER by ROBINSON JEFFERS THE DEER LAY DOWN THEIR BONES by ROBINSON JEFFERS OLD BLACK MEN by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON A WINTER ODE TO THE OLD MEN OF LUMMUS PARK, / MIAMI, FLORIDA by DONALD JUSTICE AFTER A LINE BY JOHN PEALE BISHOP by DONALD JUSTICE TO HER BODY, AGAINST TIME by ROBERT KELLY SONG FROM A COUNTRY FAIR by LEONIE ADAMS ARE THE CHILDREN AT HOME? by MARGARET ELIZABETH MUNSON SANGSTER |
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