Social Commentaries

An Old Road

by Edwin Markham 1852–1940

From The Man with the Hoe and Other Poems (1899)

Social Commentaries

A host of poppies, a flight of swallows;
A flurry of rain, and a wind that follows
Shepherds the leaves in the sheltered hollows,
For the forest is shaken and thinned.

Over my head are the firs for rafter;
The crows blow south, and my heart goes after;
I kiss my hands to the world with laughter--
Is it Aidenn or mystical Ind?

Oh, the whirl of the fields in the windy weather!
How the barley breaks and blows together!
Oh, glad is the free bird afloat on the heather--
Oh, the whole world is glad of the wind!

MLA

Markham, Edwin. “An Old Road.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/markham/57/.

Chicago

Markham, Edwin. “An Old Road.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/markham/57/.

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