The Man With

The Hoe
BY: Edwin Markham
Group 1
 What is this about?
This is about the poem by Edwin
Markham and what is the message of the
poem.
 OBJECTIVES
To understand the meaning of the poem.

To know more about the author.

To be able to answer the guide questions about the

poem.
 The Man with the Hoe
By Edwin Markham

Bowed by the weight of centuries he leans

Upon his hoe and gazes on the ground,
The emptiness of ages in his face,
And on his back the burden of the world.
Who made him dead to rapture and despair,
A thing that grieves not and that never hopes,
Stolid and stunned, a brother to the ox?
Who loosened and let down this brutal jaw?
Whose was the hand that slanted back this brow?
Whose breath blew out the light within this brain?
Is this the Thing the Lord God made and gave
To have dominion over sea and land;
To trace the stars and search the heavens for power;
To feel the passion Eternity?
Is this the Dream He dreamed who shaped the suns
And marked their ways upon the ancient deep?
Down all the stretch of Hell to its last gulf
There is no shape more terrible than this-
More tongued with censure of the world’s blind greed-
More filled with signs and portents for the soul-
More fraught with danger to the universe.
What gulfs between him and the seraphim!
Slave of the wheel of labor, what to him
Are Plato and the swing of Pleiades?
What the long reaches of the peaks of song,
The rift of down, the reddening of the rose?
Through this dread shape the suffering ages look;
Time’s tragedy is in that aching stoop;
Through this dread shape humanity betrayed,
Plundered, profaned and disinherited,
Cries protest to the Judges of the World,
A protest that is also prophecy.
O masters, lord ad 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 the world?
How will it be with kingdoms and with kings-
With those who shaped him to the thing he is-
When this dumb Terror shall reply to God
After the silence of the centuries?
EDWIN MARKHAM
Charles Edward Markham
also known as Edwin Markham
was an American poet. He was
born on April 23, 1852, in Oregon
City, Oregon U.S and died at the
age of 87 on March 7, 1940 at
Staten Island, New York, U.S.
 He was the youngest of 10 children; his
parents divorced shortly after his birth. In
1898, Markham married his third wife, Anna
Catherine Murphy, and in 1899 their son
Virgil Markham was born. Edwin Markham
had, by the time of his dead, amassed a huge
library of 15000+ books.
Some of his works are:
- “The Man With The Hoe”( most famous poem , his main
inspiration was a French painting of the same name(in French,
L’homme a la houe) by Jean Francois Millet)
- “A Creed”
- “Brotherhood”
- “Joy Of The Morning”
- “Epigrams”
- “Earth Is Enough”
Unfamiliar
Words
Centuries-
a period of 100 years.
Example:
It took more than a century to complete the
cathedral.
Burden-
something that is carried.
Example:
1. Burdened the dog with a little backpack.
2. I don’t wish to burden you with my problems.
Rapture-
an expression or manifestation of
ecstasy or passion.
Example:
We listened with rapture as the orchestra played.
Despair-
A cause of hopelessness or loss of
hope.
Example:
She finally gave up in despair.
Grieves-
to cause to suffer.
Example:
It grieves me to see him this way.
Stolid-
having or expressing little or no
sensibility.
Example:
The butler responded to the duchess’s
constant demands with stolid indifference.
Dominion-
law: supreme authority.
Example:
Having dominion over the natural world.
Eternity -
a seemingly endless or immeasurable time

Example:
They believe that sinners would spend eternity in
hell.
Gulf-
a wide gap.
Example:
The gulf between generation.
Censure-
the act of blaming or
condemning sternly.
Example:
The country faces international censure for its
alleged involvement in the assassination.
Greed-
a selfish and excessive desire
for more of something.
Example:
Motivated by naked ambition and greed.
Portents -
something that fore-
shadow a coming event.
Example:
A red sky in the morning can be a portent of a
coming storm.
Fraught-
causing or characterized by
emotional distress or tension.
Example:
A fraught relationship.
Seraphim-
an order of angels.
Example:
His ranks of the Cherubim are besides Him, and the
armies of the seraphim are dreadful.
Pleiades -
the 7 daughters of Atlas turned
into group of stars in Greek
mythology.
Example:
The Pleiades is so beautiful also known
as the seven sisters.
Reddening-
make or become red.
Example:
The reddened eyes filled afresh.
Plundered –
to take the goods of by force
Example:
The invaders plundered the town.
Profaned-
to treat (something sacred)
with abuse, irreverence or contempt.
Example:
The once-lovely landscape had been profaned by
ugly factories.
Disinherited –
to deprive of natural or human rights
or of previously held special privileges.

Example:
She threatened to disinherit her son and
leave him penniless.
Monstrous –
Having extraordinary often
overwhelming size.

Example:
A monstrous melon that was clearly not fit to eat.
Distorted –
altered from a true, natural, or
normal state, shape or condition.

Example:
A distorted account of what happened.
Quenched-
to cause to lose a heat or warmth.

Example:
You have quenched the warmth of France
towards you.
Immemorial –
extending or existing since
beyond the reach of memory, record, or
tradition.
Example:
The immemorial roots of human spirituality.
Infamies -
An extreme and publicly known
criminal or evil act.

Example:
He never escaped the infamy his crimes had
earned him.
Perfidious –
Characterize by disloyalty

Example:
We were betrayed by a perfidious ally.
Immedicable –
unable to be healed or treated.

Example:
He learns to bear what he cannot prevent,
knowing that courage and patience make tolerable
immedicable ills.
Reckon -
to determine by reference to a fixed
basis.

Example:
They reckoned that they would reach their
destination by noon.
STANZA 1
The first stanza describes the situation of the man with a hoe, as
he continue to work beyond his means, more that the strength
that his body can give. He works as if he carries the world upon
his shoulders. The stanza describes the suffering of the man with
the hoe – his grief and despair, the emptiness he feels,
helplessness, and exhaustion.
STANZA 2
The second stanza describes how the situation of the
man with a hoe questions God. As the writer gives a
hint of God’s creation- that man superior and has
dominion over everything in this world, he presents a
situation filled with confusion and questions.
STANZA 3
The third stanza is a cry for justice and betrayal. It
describes the sufferings of those who lack access to
equal opportunities and the helplessness of being in
the wheel of labor and having no control as to when
it will stop or change.
STANZA 4
The fourth stanza is a call to those who are on the top
of the ladder. Those who are in control of the wheel.
This is a call to make them realize that there is
betrayal in the working class. There is exploitation of
labor and the workers are the one who suffer. This is
a cry for help to those who can do something about
the situation of the farmers, workers and peasants
STANZA 5
The fifth stanza shows a voice of hope for
realization and redemption. It tells about the
optimism to change the situation of the man with
the hoe.
QUESTIONS TO ANSWER
 What is the image of the man with
the hoe?
The poem portrays the labor of much of
humanity using a symbolism of a laborer leaning
upon his hoe, burdened by his work but
receiving a little rest or reward.
How does the poet describe him?
The poet describe him in many ways, such as:
1. A man who carries the burden of the world.
2. Grieving and hopeless.
3. A man whose breath light was blown out.
4. With emptiness reflected on his face.
5. Slave of the wheel of the labor
 What is meant by the line, “ What to him
are plato and the swing of Pleiades?”
The phrase means that the peasant or
laborer has no time, strength or ability to pursue
knowledge or appreciate the beauty of nature
surrounding him because he is always engrossed
in hard work and toil to earn his daily wages.
What does the bent body of the man
with the hoe signify?
The bent body of the man with hoe signifies the
crushing labor the working man must carry out to
survive. The weight that bends his body symbolizes
“the weight of the centuries”, or the burden that
humans have long had to toil constantly to grow food
and endure.
 According to the poet, who is responsible
for the condition or state of the man with
the hoe?
According to the poet the people on the
top of the wheel or the powerful people are
responsible for the condition or state of the
man with a hoe.
 As a child of the “future”, how would you respond the
questions, “How will the Future reckon with this
Man?” posed by the persona?
In the poem, the man with the hoe would’ve lived a much promising life that
what he had. If that man enslaved with labor and continuous hardships while
standing in the dark without given importance. As a child of the future I am
the best start who uplifts these kinds of people, by starting in small things
like:
1. Appreciating their dedication in work.
2. Respecting their hard work.
3. Doing my own best in life to give them a better future- “future” to live in.
4. Be the one who can put the spotlight on them.
Who are the modern “ man with the
hoe”?
The laborers, peasants and the
farmers are the modern man with
the hoe.
 How does the society treat
them?
Society treats them like pieces of a
machine, slaves, something that does
not have any value and holds them back
from achieving their dreams
THANK YOU