My sinews strong, my sturdy frame, My independence free and bold— Mine is the richest dower, I hold, And ploughman is a noble name.
Nor think me all uncouth and rough, For, as I turn the furrows o'er, Far clearer than the threshing-floor I see the tender growing stuff.
A lab'rer, I, the long day through; The lonely stretch of field and wood Seem pleasant things to me, and good; The river sings, the heaven's blue
Bends down so near the sun-crowned hill— Thank God, I have the eyes to see The beauty and the majesty Of Nature, and the heart to thrill
At crimson sunset, dawn's soft flush, The fields of gold that stretch afar, The glimmer of the first pale star That heralds in the evening's hush.
They lie who say that labor makes A brute thing, an insensate clod, Of man, the masterpiece of God; They lie who say that labor takes
All from us save the lust of pelf, Dulls eye, and ear, and soul, and mind, For no man need be deaf or blind Unless he wills it so himself.
This life I live's a goodly thing— My soul keeps tune to one glad song The while I turn the furrows long— A ploughman happy as a king.