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Do the boys and girls still go to Siever's
For cider, after school, in late September?
Or gather hazel nuts among the thickets
On Aaron Hatfield's farm when the frosts begin?
For many times with the laughing girls and boys
Played I along the road and over the hills
When the sun was low and the air was cool,
Stopping to club the walnut tree
Standing leafless against a flaming west.
Now, the smell of the autumn smoke,
And the dropping acorns,
And the echoes about the vales
Bring dreams of life. They hover over me.
They question me:
Where are those laughing comrades?
How many are with me, how many
In the old orchards along the way to Siever's,
And in the woods that overlook
The quiet water?
This poem is in the public domain.
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Edgar Lee Masters (1868 – 1950) was an American poet, biographer, playwright, and attorney. Born in Kansas, he grew up in Lewistown, Illinois. He attended college, but was forced to leave due to lack of finances. After working in his father's law office, Edgar was admitted to the Illinois bar and was a partner in the same firm as Clarence Darrow for several years before opening his own law firm. Simultaneously, he was actively developing his writing career, which ultimately resulted in 12 plays, 21 books of poetry, 6 novels, and 6 biographies. His best-known work was Spoon River Anthology. Despite his success in both careers--he won several awards of distinction and a U.S. postage stamp was issued in his honor--he died in poverty in a Pennsylvania nursing home.
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