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They drive home the cows from the pasture,
Up through the long shady lane,
Where the quail whistles loud in the wheatfields
That are yellow with ripening grain.
They find in the thick waving grasses
Where the scarlet-lipped strawberry grows;
They gather the earliest snowdrops
And the first crimson buds of the rose.
They toss the new hay in the meadow;
They gather the elderbloom white;
They find where the dusky grapes purple
In the soft-tinted October light.
They know where the apples hang ripest,
And are sweeter than Italy’s wines;
They know where the fruit hangs the thickest
On the long, thorny blackberry vines.
They gather the delicate seaweeds
And build tiny castles of sand;
They pick up the beautiful seashells,
Fairy barks that have drifted to land.
They wave from the tall, rocking tree-tops,
Where the oriole’s hammock nest swings;
And at night-time are folded in slumber
By a song that a fond mother sings.
Those who toil bravely are strongest;
The humble and poor become great;
And so, from these brown-handed children
Shall grow mighty rulers of state.
The pen of the author and statesman,
The noble and wise of the land,
The sword, and the chisel, and palette
Shall be held in the little brown hand.
( Mary H. Krout )
pasture : a large field used by farm animal
crimson : bright red
slumber : sleep
A) Answer the following questions.
1) What does the poem tell us the little brown hands will do?
2) Does the poet say the little brown hands will do great things in the future? Explain.
3) Can someone who is “humble and poor” become a great ruler? Give an example from this book.
4) Is it true that “those who toil bravely are strongest”? Explain.
5) What is your favourite line in this poem? Why do you like it?
B) Your hand—Draw a picture of your hand—In each finger write on thing you would like to do when you grow up.
C) What’s the word? Using the clues, write the correct words from the poem.
1) the name of a month -O _ _ _ _ _ _
2) a kind of fruit -b _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
3) a plant from the sea -s _ _ _ _ _ _
4) farm animals eat this -h _ _
5) a country in Europe I _ _ _ _