Author: Madison Julius Cawein

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    A Mile of lane, hedged high with iron-weeds
    And dying daisies, white with sun, that leads
    Downward into a wood; through which a stream
    Steals like a shadow; over which is laid
    A bridge of logs, worn deep by many a team,
    Sunk in the tangled shade.

    Far off a wood-dove lifts its lonely cry;
    And in the sleepy silver of the sky
    A gray hawk wheels scarce larger than a hand.
    From point to point the road grows worse and worse,
    Until that place is reached where all the land
    Seems burdened with some curse.

    A ragged fence of pickets, warped and sprung,
    On which the fragments of a gate are hung,
    Divides a hill, the fox and ground-hog haunt,
    A wilderness of briers; o'er whose tops
    A battered barn is seen, low-roofed and gaunt,
    'Mid fields that know no crops.

    Fields over which a path, o'erwhelmed with burs
    And ragweeds, noisy with the grasshoppers,
    Leads, lost, irresolute as paths the cows
    Wear through the woods, unto a woodshed; then,
    With wrecks of windows, to a huddled house,
    Where men have murdered men.

    A house, whose tottering chimney, clay and rock,
    Is seamed and crannied; whose lame door and lock
    Are bullet-bored; around which, there and here,
    Are sinister stains. One dreads to look around.
    The place seems thinking of that time of fear
    And dares not breathe a sound.

    Within is emptiness: the sunlight falls
    On faded journals papering its walls;
    On advertisement chromos, torn with time,
    Around a hearth where wasps and spiders build.
    The house is dead; meseems that night of crime
    It, too, was shot and killed.

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Type of Poem: Narrative Poem

Date Written:

Date Published:

Language: English

Keywords: Public Domain

Source: Public Domain Collection

Publisher:

Rights/Permissions: Public Domain

Comments/Notes: This poem offers a poignant exploration of decay, abandonment, and violence. The setting is a desolate, rural landscape, which the poet masterfully brings to life through vivid, evocative imagery. The themes of decay and abandonment are embodied in the "dying daisies," "tangled shade," "warped and sprung" picket fence, and "fields that know no crops." The poet's use of personification, as in "The place seems thinking of that time of fear," further enhances the eerie, desolate atmosphere.

The poem's tone is somber and reflective, underscored by the rhythm and structure, which mirror the slow, winding journey down the "Mile of lane." The poet's choice of words and imagery suggests an undercurrent of violence, most starkly in the final lines that reveal a house where "men have murdered men." This revelation reframes the preceding descriptions of decay and abandonment, suggesting a tragic, possibly criminal history behind the desolation.

The poem's structure, composed of six-line stanzas, lends a sense of order that contrasts with the disorder described within each stanza. This tension between form and content heightens the poem's overall impact. The use of enjambment, where sentences or phrases continue beyond the end of a line or stanza, contributes to the flowing, narrative style of the poem, reinforcing the sense of a journey.

In conclusion, this poem is a powerful exploration of themes of decay, abandonment, and violence, brought to life through evocative imagery, somber tone, and carefully structured verse. It invites readers to reflect on the stories and histories hidden within landscapes and buildings, and the impact of time and human actions on the natural world.