MAY IKNOW About the poem of Edwin Markham about A PRAYER?

The Man with the Hoe" is a poem by Edwin Markham, first published in 1899. It is considered one of Markham's most famous works and has been widely anthologized. The poem describes a weary and downtrodden farm laborer, with a face as "a biblical scroll" and "hands that the centuries had molded into granite," who toils in the fields under the oppressive heat of the sun. He appears as a figure of despair and hopelessness, a victim of the harsh realities of rural life.

The poem became highly popular and sparked significant discussion about social and economic disparities. It struck a chord with many readers who saw it as a reflection of the struggles faced by working-class individuals during the late 19th century's industrial transformation. The poem's evocative imagery and powerful language effectively conveyed the harsh conditions and exploited circumstances of the laborers and resonated with people's concerns about social injustice.

The poem did not directly mention the term "prayer," but it had many prayer-like qualities. Markham's use of language and imagery created an elevated tone and spiritual aura around the farm worker, almost like a biblical figure in need of salvation. Furthermore, the poem ends with a plea to God to alleviate the suffering of the laborer, offering hope and the possibility of divine intervention:

_And the dead oxen's eyes

Turn empty to the flies;

But who will turn to him

Who toils until he dies?

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 all shores?_

In these closing lines, Markham poses profound and reflective questions, implicitly drawing attention to the need for social reform and societal change. While not directly called "A Prayer," the poem embodies the essence of a plea or supplication for change, addressing the themes of social inequality and the urgent need for intervention to address the desperate plight of the working class.