Valley-Folk

O narrow is the house where we are born,And narrow are the fields in which we labour,Fenced in by rails and woods that low hills neighbourLest they should spill their crops of hay and corn.O narrow are the hates with which we thornEach other's flesh by gossip of the Grundies,And narrow are our roads to church on Sundays,And narrow too the vows of love we've sworn.

But through our fields the Saint John river flowsAnd mocks the patterned fields that we enclose;There sometimes pausing in the dusty heatWe stretch cramped backs and lean upon our hoesTo watch a sea-gull glide with lazy beatTo wider regions where the river goes.