The House by the Side of the Road
Sam Walter Foss
1858 to 1911
Track 1
Reconstruct the poem by dragging each line into its correct position. Your goal is to reassemble the original poem as accurately as possible. As you move the lines, you'll see whether your arrangement is correct, helping you explore the poem's flow and meaning. You can also print out the jumbled poem to cut up and reassemble in the classroom. Either way, take your time, enjoy the process, and discover how the poet's words come together to create something truly beautiful.
Easy Mode - Auto check enabled
The men who are faint with the strife.
Let me live in my house by the side of the road
Or hurl the cynic's ban;—
Both parts of an infinite plan;—
And stretches away to the night.
The men who are good and the men who are bad,
And weep with the strangers that moan,
Then why should I sit in the scorner's seat
But I turn not away from their smiles nor their tears—
Wise, foolish—so am I.
Where the race of men go by—
Let me live in a house by the side of the road
Or hurl the cynic's ban?—
But still I rejoice when the travelers rejoice,
I see from my house by the side of the road,
And be a friend to man.
They are good, they are bad, they are weak, they are strong,
Let me live in my house by the side of the road
And the road passes on through the long afternoon
And be a friend to man.
Like a man who dwells alone.
Let me live in a house by the side of the road,
I would not sit in the scorner's seat,
And be a friend to man.
And mountains of wearisome height;
I know there are brook-gladdened meadows ahead
Where the race of men go by—
Nor live in my house by the side of the road
The men who press with the ardor of hope,
By the side of the highway of life,
As good and as bad as I.
Let me live in my house by the side of the road