He drew a circle that shut me out – Heretic, Rebel, a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle and took him in!
Poem by Edwin Markem titled OUTWITTED
Edwin Markham, original name Charles Edward Anson Markham, (1852 – 1940), was an American poet and lecturer, best-known for his poem of social protest, “The Man with the Hoe.” The youngest son of pioneer parents, Markham grew up on an isolated valley ranch in the Suisun hills in central California. After graduation from college, he became first a teacher and then a school administrator. In 1899 he gained national fame with the publication in the San Francisco Examiner of “The Man with the Hoe.” It was inspired by Jean Francois Millet’s painting. Markham made the French peasant the symbol of the exploited classes throughout the world. Its success enabled Markham to devote himself to writing and lecturing—in which he concerned himself with social and industrial, as well as poetic, problems.
REFLECTION:
- What circles have you drawn that keep people out?
- Can you draw a larger circle to let others in?
- What does that look like? Feel like?
- Start drawing!
