Poppies on the Wheat

Helen Hunt Jackson 1830 (Amherst, Massachusetts) – 1885 (San Francisco)



Along Ancona's hills the shimmering heat,
A tropic tide of air with ebb and flow
Bathes all the fields of wheat until they glow
Like flashing seas of green, which toss and beat
Around the vines. The poppies lithe and fleet
Seem running, fiery torchmen, to and fro
To mark the shore.
The farmer does not know
That they are there. He walks with heavy feet,
Counting the bread and wine by autumn's gain,
But I,--I smile to think that days remain
Perhaps to me in which, through bread be sweet
No more, and red wine warm my blood in vain,
I shall be glad remembering how the fleet,
Lithe poppies ran like torchmen with the wheat.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
63

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBAABCBADDADAA
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 633
Words 120
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 15

Helen Hunt Jackson

Helen Maria Hunt Jackson, born Helen Fiske, was an American poet and writer who became an activist on behalf of improved treatment of Native Americans by the United States government. more…

All Helen Hunt Jackson poems | Helen Hunt Jackson Books

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