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Theology

Text of Poem

When we were boys a man my father hired
Solemnly swore to us in broad daylight
He feared not God nor Devil; later our grove
Frightened him half to death one windy night.

He heard a tree go down, he felt the wind.
But God or Devil, who’s seen one of these?—
Until we learned he’d never been to church
We thought he lied for not excepting trees.

First Line
When we were boys a man my father hired
Original Pub Location
Original Publication Date
1927
Original Citation
Midland (June 1927) 183.
Complete Poems
30
Hearst Collections
Word Count
68
Poetic Form
open
Themes
Twitter Quote
He feared not God nor Devil; later our grove / Frightened him half to death one windy night.