River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1899-10-19
DObley'S Man Witha Hoe
An ElucIdation Of Markham's Poem
FOR Mrs. d. S Benefit.
nI MIGHT Just as well resign at
tsaaassasssS;aI

hI MIGHT just as well resign at
once!" exclaimed Mrs. DobleY.
81 had no idea that joining a literary
club meant that one had to perform in
public. l simply can't do it.
what do they want you to do, my
dear?" asked Mr.. Dobley. "A song and
dance or a cakewalk? l Wouldn't mind
a little thing like that. You can pick it
up in no time"
''It's nothing like that" said Mrs.
Dobley, passing a typewriter docu-
ment over the breakfast table. And
you needn't make any fun of the mat
ter, either The frivolous way in which
you look at everything is tiresome. Now,
what am l to do?"
81 am sure, my DEAR" began Dob
ley
Just read tread it," commanded
Mrs Dobley, and her husband read:
'.Honora Coombs DobIey.-Dear Madam:
At the next meeting of the Literary club
the topic of discussion will be Markham
poem, The Man with the Hoe As you
have been selected as chief speaker of the
evening you will kindly be prepared to re-
cite he poem and give sketch of The au-
thor'3 career. Also to give your opinions
as 10 the idea contained in the work, as well
as the general style and literary construc-
tion of the poem"
well, my DEAR" said Mr.. Dobley,
trying TO conceal the fact that he was
quite as perturbed as his wife by the
letter. "WelI?"
"Wen? Why didn't they select you?
What did they send that to me for?
What do 1 know about farming?"
you forget, my dear, that this is not
an agricultural club, but literary So
ciety. Of course they refer to the ia
nous poem?"
what poem?"
rs it possible that you haven't heard
of Markham's masterpiece, The Man
with the Hoe?'" asked Dobley, with
a reproachful look over the top of his
egg.
why, / haven't read anything but
Quo Vadis' this summer, and / only
half read that. You see it hurts my
ewes, and besides that Pm too busy.
Who was hep
1.-The Man with the Hoe?' He has
become one of the most typical Of"
what was the matter with him?
WHY didn't he hoe? Where did it hap
penn
1T began with picture, my dear.
An artist made a picture of man in
field with a hoe"
''Hoeing corn, suppose; well, what of
it?"
well, It was a great picture-filled
with depth and feeling and life"
II suppose it seemed as though he
were really hoeing, did it? I've seen
picture like that-a girl gathering
roses-you could just see the stems
snap
NO, it wasn't exactly that. The man
had stopped"
stopped hoeing? What did he do
that for?"
He'd stopped to rest and was lean
ing on the hoe
Gracious! \ hoe isn't a bit COM
Portable to lean upon. Why didn't he
sit down?''
"Why-er-it was just the artists
idea, you see. The man stopping to
lean on his hoe-the laborer in the field
don't you see?-typifying the work
Markham wrote"
"Was il Markham had the hoe?"
"Oh, no! Markham was a poet and
he saw the picture and saw the poetry
in it, Then he wrote the poem and
called it, The Man with the Hoe"
WAS it pretty?'
at was a magnificent idea-the fig
ure of that man as typical of the work
mantle patient slave blowing the
field"
what did he have hoe for if he was
plowing?"
You don't understand. Don't you
catch the idea? Labor-the farmer at
work plodding along without an idea
sweating over his work
You just said he'd stopped TO rest"
"Er-yes- when you read it,
you'll see the splendid picture Markham
drew"
Excuse me, John; was Markham the
artist or was he the man who had the
hoe, or the man who just wrote about
it?'
He was the poet, my dear; he wrote
the verse"
Il suppose he was paid for il wasn't
hep"
Il suppose so, my dear"
"Then, what was the trouble? Real
", John, l can't seem TO understand
what all the fuss was about"
Markham wanted to show the mis-
cradle condition of the Woodworking
farmer the slavery of the toiler--the
-the-fetters-'
why. John Dobley. you know you
have cften said you'd like TO be farmer
because they have everything so easy.
Hoeing and raking is child's play, and
as for blowing it's just like riding
bicycle nowadays. You sit in sort OF
a sulkY and the horses know just
where TO go. l suppose they will have
auton .t.biles after awhile"
He ,poke," went on Mr.. Dobley. "of
the e rptiness of ages There's a
grand thought. The empti-"
What did he mean by that?"
''Why-er-so much of that is meta
phor-you see. The main idea is that
the lot of the working man is hope
less. The Man with the Hoe was
poor wretch bent with toil-a farmer
whose life was"
why didn't he get one of the farm
hands to do the hoeing?"
He probably was farm hand him
self working for a pittance-"
We'll. he ought 10 have been glad he
was working, think The idea! What
did he want? y Steam hoe?"
mo. my dear; but the idea is what
did life hold for him? OF what was he
thinking as he stood there leaning on
the hoe-that humble implement of
toiI?"
Probably he was thinking of his
dinner. I'm not a bit sorry for that
man. He had nice open air work and