The Man with the Hoe and Other Poems

xii, 114 pp. Illustrated by Howard Pyle. Brown cloth boards with gilt titles and decor. "The Man with the Hoe" is a poem by the American poet Edwin Markham, inspired by Jean-François Millet's painting L'homme à la houe, a painting interpreted as a socialist protest about the peasant's plight. The poem was first presented as a public poetry reading at a New Year's Eve party in 1898. It was soon published in the San Francisco Examiner in January 1899 after its editor heard it at the same party.[2] The poem was also reprinted in other newspapers across the United States due to a chorus of acclaim.[2] It was used as the opening poem in Markham's 1902 collection The Man with a Hoe and Other Poems. The poem portrays the labor of much of humanity using the symbolism of a laborer leaning upon his hoe, burdened by his work, but receiving little rest or reward.--Wikipedia. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Edwin Markham (born Charles Edward Anson Markham; April 23, 1852 – March 7, 1940) was an American poet. From 1923 to 1931 he was Poet Laureate of Oregon.--Wikipedia