The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1899-10-20
DObley'S Man Hoe
An Elucidation of Markham's Poem
for Mrs. ID. IS Benefit.

JUST DIS well ISSlSu
once!" exclaimed Mrs. Dobley.
81 had no idea that joining a literary
club meant that one had to perform in
public. 1 simply can't do it."
-'What do they want you to do, my
dear?" asked Mr.. Dobley. ga song and
dance or a cakewalk? wouldn't mind
a little thing like that. You can pick it
up in no time
Its 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 1 to do?"
Il am sure, my DEAR" began Dob
ley
"Just read tread It'll" commanded
Mrs. Dobley, and her husband read:
~sHonora Coombs Dobley.-Dear Madam:
At the next meeting of the Literary club
the topic of discussion will be Markham's
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 the poem and give sketch of the au-
;thors career. Also to give your opinions
as to the idea contained in the work, as well
as the general style and literary construc-
ton 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. "Well?"
3'Well? 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?"
els 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, 1 haven't read anything but
Quo Vadis' this summer, and only
half read that. You see it hurts my
ewes, and besides that I'm too busy.
Who was he?"
"aThe 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"
at began with a picture, my dear.
An artist made a picture of man in
a field with hoe"
-'Hoeing corn, suppose; well, what of
it?"
!'WelI, it was a great picture-flled
with depth and feeling and life"
81 suppose it seemed as though he
were really hoeing, did it? I've seen
a picture like that-a girl gathering
roses-you could just see the stems
snap"
mo, 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"
tGracious! A hoe isn't 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
don't you see?-typifying the work
man of the ages-the empty ages
Markham wrote"
|<Was it Markham had the hoe?"
~Oh, no! Markham was 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"
t'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-but when you read it.
you'll see the splendid picture Markham
drew"
Excuse me. John: was Markham the