Poem-A-Day: Poppies on the Wheat by Helen Hunt Jackson

Poppies on the Wheat by Helen Hunt Jackson     Along Ancona's hills the shimmering heat,  A tropic tide of air with ebb and flow  Bathes all the fields of wheat until they glow  Like flashing seas of green, which toss and beat  Around the vines. The poppies lithe and fleet  Seem running, fiery torchmen, to and fro  To mark the shore.                                                       The farmer does not know  That they are there. He walks with heavy feet,  Counting the bread and wine by autumn's gain,  But I,--I smile to think that days remain  Perhaps to me in which, though bread be sweet  No more, and red wine warm my blood in vain,  I shall be glad remembering how the fleet,  Lithe poppies ran like torchmen with the wheat.       Today's poem is in the public domain. About This Poem In her travel writing, Jackson gives a further glimpse of the Italian vistas that seem to have inspired this poem: "Then began a royal progress through a garden; all the way to Ancona, four hours, nothing but wheat-fields and vineyards; in the wheat-fields, scarlet poppies and purple foxglove, and bright blue something, I don't know what, but as we dashed by it looked like bachelor's-buttons flying off in the air." Work by Jackson A Separate Star (Heyday Books, 2008)         Poem-A-Day Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-A-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. Browse the  Poem-A-Day Archive.  June 29, 2013 Helen Hunt Jackson was born Helen Fiske in Amherst, Massachusetts, on October 15, 1830. She was not only a noted writer, but also a tireless advocate on behalf of the improved treatment of Native Americans in the United States. Jackson died in 1885. Related Poems Come Slowly--Eden (211) by Emily Dickinson Last Supper by Charles Wright Ah! Sunflower by William Blake   Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.

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