Page:A Book of Czech Verse.pdf/65

 From there a light had flashed, The glint of scythes that pierced The dim-lit morning haze; The scythes on shoulders borne Of men that paced along Towards the trodden ways.

Powerful, sunburnt men Whose thick and hardened arms The veins stood out upon; And through the home-spun shirt Each weather-beaten chest Like burnished copper shone.

They came, with pouch on hip, And laid their scythes to ground Beside that waving sea; Then on the handle set Their hardened palms and stood A moment, silently.

Still, thoughtfully they gazed Where, sweeping through the plains, That golden forest lay; Across the broad expanse Exulting in its pride On this, its final day.