The Scarecrow
Once I said to a scarecrow, "You must be tired of standing in thislonely field."
And he said, "The joy of scaring is a deep and lasting one, and Inever tire of it."
Said I, after a minute of thought, "It is true; for I too haveknown that joy."
Said he, "Only those who are stuffed with straw can know it."
Then I left him, not knowing whether he had complimented or belittledme.
A year passed, during which the scarecrow turned philosopher.
And when I passed by him again I saw two crows building a nestunder his hat.
Words in this poem
- scarecrow n.
- Anything set up to frighten crows or other birds from cornfields; hence, anything terifying without danger.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Scarecrow is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Madman: His Parables and Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #5616; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Kahlil Gibran, The Scarecrow, in The Madman: His Parables and Poems (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5616, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/gibran-madman/the-scarecrow.html, id L27285.
About this section
The Scarecrow is prose, printed in 7 paragraphs. It is part of the edition and is kept for reading, but nothing here is measured: the line breaks are the printer's, so no metre, rhyme scheme or scansion is stated.
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