Under the long fell’s stony eaves
The ploughman, going up and down,
Ridge after ridge man’s tide-mark leaves,
And turns the hard grey soil to brown.
Striding, he measures out the earth
In lines of life, to rain and sun;
And every year that comes to birth
Sees him still striding on and on.
The seasons change, and then return;
Yet still, in blind, unsparing ways,
However I may shrink or yearn,
The ploughman measures out my days.
His acre brought forth roots last year;
This year it bears the gleamy grain;
Next spring shall seedling grass appear:
Then roots and corn and grass again.
Five times the young corn’s pallid green
I have seen spread and change and thrill;
Five times the reapers I have seen
Go creeping up the far-off hill.
And, as the unknowing ploughman climbs
Slowly and inveterately,
I wonder long how many times
The corn will spring again for me.
(Gordon Bottomley)
More Poetry from Gordon Bottomley:
Gordon Bottomley Poems based on Topics: Man, Life, Change, Joy & Excitement, Spring, Youth- Babel: The Gate Of The God (Gordon Bottomley Poems)
- The End Of The World (Gordon Bottomley Poems)
- Littleholme (Gordon Bottomley Poems)
- To Iron-Founder (Gordon Bottomley Poems)
- Atlantis (Gordon Bottomley Poems)
- New Year's Eve, 1913 (Gordon Bottomley Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Man Poems, Life Poems, Joy & Excitement Poems, Youth Poems, Spring Poems, Change PoemsBased on Keywords: gleamy, inveterately, tide-mark
- The Golden Legend: VI. The School Of Salerno (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Poems)
- Book III - Part 03 - The Soul is Mortal (Lucretius Poems)
- Out Of The East (John Freeman Poems)
- Of The Nature Of Things: Book II - Part 03 - Atomic Forms And Their Combinations (Lucretius Poems)
- Clifton Grove (Henry Kirke White Poems)