THE COUNTRY FAITH

 

          THE COUNTRY FAITH

“The Country Faith” is a short poem written by Norman R. Gale (1862-1942). It is about the everlasting faith of village people in God for the rain which produces corn that nourishes their life. 

            The text of the poem reads as follows:

 

Here is the country’s heart,

Where the grass is green,

Life is the same sweet life

As it e’er hath been.

 

Trust in a God still lives,

And the bell at morn

Floats with a thought of God

O’er the rising corn.

 

God comes down in the rain,

And the crop grows tall---

This is the country faith,

And the best of all.

 

            The poem is in fact intended to show the difference between citizens and villagers. The former due to the impact of science and the faith in machinery have abandoned their erstwhile eternal faith in God for rain which is the symbol of life. This has not happened in countryside, The people there still believe that rain is the gift of God. It has always been so and will remain so.

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G.R.Kanwal

11^th September 2023