Poetry & Analysis
Selected Poems
Inspirational PoemsThe Man with the Hoe
Bowed by the weight of centuries he leans
Upon his hoe and gazes on the ground,
The emptiness of ages in his face,
And on his back the burden of the world.
Who made him dead to rapture and despair,
A thing that grieves not and that never hopes,
Stolid and stunned, a brother to the ox?
Who loosened and let down this brutal jaw?
Whose was the hand that slanted back this brow?
Whose breath blew out the light within this brain?
Is this the Thing the Lord God made and gave
To have dominion over sea and land;
To trace the stars and search the heavens for power;
To feel the passion of Eternity?
Is this the dream He dreamed who shaped the suns
And marked their ways upon the ancient deep?
Down all the stretch of Hell to its last gulf
There is no shape more terrible than this—
More tongued with censure of the world’s blind greed—
More filled with signs and portents for the soul—
More fraught with menace to the universe.
What gulfs between him and the seraphim!
Slave of the wheel of labor, what to him
Are Plato and the swing of Pleiades?
What the long reaches of the peaks of song,
The rift of dawn, the reddening of the rose?
Through this dread shape humanity betrayed,
Plundered, profaned, and disinherited,
Cries protest to the Judges of the World,
A protest that is also prophecy.
O masters, lords and rulers in all lands,
Is this the handiwork you give to God,
This monstrous thing distorted and soul-quenched?
How will you ever straighten up this shape;
Touch it again with immortality;
Give back the upward looking and the light;
Rebuild in it the music and the dream;
Make right the immemorial infamies,
Perfidious wrongs, immedicable woes?
O masters, lords and rulers in all lands,
How will the Future reckon with this Man?
How answer his brute question in that hour
When whirlwinds of rebellion shake the world?
How will it be with kingdoms and with kings—
With those who shaped him to the thing he is—
When this dumb Terror shall reply to God,
After the silence of the centuries?
Overview Short Summary
Markham’s poem asks what happens when human greatness is crushed by exploitation and labor without dignity. It is powerful for leadership and greatness because it demands that society restore the upward-looking light in humanity.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Human dignity: The poem sees greatness as something every person was meant to carry.
- Social responsibility: Masters, lords, and rulers are challenged to answer for human degradation.
- Lost greatness: The poem asks how to rebuild music, dream, and light in the worker.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is prophetic, angry, and compassionate. The mood is heavy because greatness has been buried under injustice.
Literary Technique Imagery and Symbols
Hoe, burden, ox, stars, suns, seraphim, Pleiades, rulers, and whirlwinds symbolize crushed dignity and coming judgment.
Poetic Form Rhyme Scheme and Structure
The poem uses repeated questions to turn observation into moral accusation.
Reader Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best poems about greatness?
Some of the best poems about greatness are “Nobility,” “A Nation’s Strength,” “Fable,” “The Rhodora,” “Ode to Duty,” “The New Colossus,” “Sonnet 94,” “Abou Ben Adhem,” “We never know how high we are,” “On Virtue,” “Columbus,” and “The Man with the Hoe.” These poems explore inner greatness, moral courage, leadership, ambition, hard work, compassion, and greatness through struggle.
What is a short poem about greatness?
“We never know how high we are” by Emily Dickinson, “Fable” by Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The Rhodora” by Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Sonnet 94” by William Shakespeare, and “Pied Beauty” by Gerard Manley Hopkins are useful short poems about greatness.
Which poems are about inner greatness?
Good poems about inner greatness include “Nobility,” “Fable,” “The Rhodora,” “Astræa,” “Sonnet 94,” “We never know how high we are,” “On Virtue,” and “Pied Beauty.” These poems show greatness as self-worth, restraint, virtue, courage, beauty, and hidden strength.
Which greatness poems are good for students?
Good greatness poems for students include “Fable,” “A Nation’s Strength,” “Nobility,” “We never know how high we are,” “Ode to Duty,” “Columbus,” “Sonnet 55,” and “Abou Ben Adhem.” These poems are useful for classroom reading, student motivation, speeches, and lessons about character.
What keywords does this collection cover?
This collection naturally covers poems about greatness, greatness poems, short poems about greatness, poems about greatness in life, poems about inner greatness, poems about being great, poems about becoming great, poems about achieving greatness, poems about greatness and success, poems about hard work and greatness, poems about ambition and greatness, poems about personal greatness, poems about leadership and greatness, poems about greatness for students, and poems about greatness through struggle.
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