Poem of the Day: "The Farm on the Great Plains" by William E. Stafford, Poet of the Month

The Songs of Eretz Poem of the Day for July 31, 2014 is "The Farm on the Great Plains" by William E. Stafford, Poet of the Month.  In addition to the reviews this month, Mr. Stafford's work has been examined previously here:  http://eretzsongs.blogspot.com/2014/04/poem-of-day-once-in-40s-by-william.html, where a brief biography and references may be found.  The text of "The Farm on the Great Plains" as well as an audio recording of it read by the poet may be found here:  http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poem/16742.

"The Farm on the Great Plains" is another example of one of Stafford's contemporary ballads, similar in structure to the many that have been examined this month.  The poet uses the telephone as a kind of time machine to contact the past--perhaps his own past, perhaps the country's past.  In the end, the poet, waxing Wordsworthian, must become one with the farmland of that lost era.