On The Farm

R. S. Thomas

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There was Dai Puw. He was no good.
They put him in the fields to dock swedes,
And took the knife from him, when he came home
At late evening with a grin
Like the slash of a knife on his face.

There was Llew Puw, and he was no good.
Every evening after the ploughing
With the big tractor he would sit in his chair,
And stare into the tangled fire garden,
Opening his slow lips like a snail.

There was Huw Puw, too. What shall I say?
I have heard him whistling in the hedges
On and on, as though winter
Would never again leave those fields,
And all the trees were deformed.

And lastly there was the girl:
Beauty under some spell of the beast.
Her pale face was the lantern
By which they read in life's dark book
The shrill sentence: God is love.

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Comments2
  • sllmittie3

    Remember reading this a long time ago and didn't like it much then either 🤷‍♀️. Lines like, "Her pale face was the lantern," just weird me out. Is this supposed to be romantic or creepy?? 🤔 Wish poets explained themselves a little more!

    • Jill0542ck

      "Studied "On The Farm" by R. S. Thomas 4 my english hw. Not super fun, kinda dark. But hey, at least poetry's diff from the usual essays we gotta dissect hehe.. Thomas has mad wordplay skills though, gotta admit."