[Editor: This poem by William Blocksidge (also known as William Baylebridge) was published in Songs o’ the South (1908).]
The Reaper
A reaper stood, with his shining blade,
At the edge of a field of grain;
“’Tis ripe for the Master’s harvest made,”
He said; “I must reap again.”
But among the grain grew fragrant flowers,
And tares in abundance, too;
“I must reap them all for my shady bowers,”
He said, “both the false and true.”
“And there, till the Master calls,” said he,
“Till the trump for the dead shall sound,
I must keep them well, ’neath lock and key,
In my granary underground.”
So the reaper swung his shining blade;
And lo! in a single breath,
Grain, tares, and flowers in the dust were laid —
For that reaper’s name was Death.
Source:
William Blocksidge, Songs o’ the South, London: Watts, 1908, pp. 10-11
Editor’s notes:
bower = a shaded, leafy resting place or shelter, usually located within a garden or park and often made of latticework upon which plants (especially vines) are grown, or made out of intertwined tree boughs or vines (also known as an “arbor”) (“bower” may also refer to a country cottage or retreat, or to a woman’s bedroom or apartments in a medieval castle or mansion)
’neath = (vernacular) beneath
reaper = a farm worker who harvests (reaps) crops, especially a peasant harvester equipped with a scythe (may also refer to a representation of Death, otherwise known as “the Grim Reaper”)
tare = an troublesome weed found in fields of grain, mentioned in the Bible, in the “parable of the tares” (Matthew 13:25-40); it is believed that the biblical “tare” is “darnel” (also known as poison darnel, darnel ryegrass, Lolium temulentum), a noxious weed which looks like wheat
’tis = (archaic) a contraction of “it is”
trump = trumpet; the sound of a trumpet; a heralding or sound (actual, metaphorical, or symbolic), as if done with a trumpet (or characteristic of a trumpet); to blow a trumpet
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