Bill on War by Payson Sibley Wild
On a bitterly cold February night, a narrator sits with Bill in the farm office Bill calls his own, warming himself by the red-hot iron stove while frost coats the windows and a sea of snow stretches toward "Thirty-One." The narrator describes the room's homely furnishings—farm journals, cattle-feeding books, a book on soils, Laury's plants pulled near the stove for warmth, and Bill's double-barreled gun behind the door. Bill mentions it has snowed enough to save the wheat crop, then the narrator brings up the war hanging over them. Bill falls silent before speaking gravely: he believes our folks, for all their back-bone, have grown soft and "atrofied," too prosperous and pampered, like a prize-winning horse that cannot kick as hard as a scrub worked hard every day. He compares the country to "Ol' Ben," a big, gentle, good-natured bull who did not know his own strength until a fiery young bull broke through three fences to challenge him; dazed and toyed with at first, Ben eventually grew angry and fought all day, emerging groggy but victorious, and was never troublesome nor sought out for trouble afterward. Bill believes the same transformation might be good for the nation. The narrator then asks how Bill's son Lon would be affected if war came. The question visibly pains Bill, who is known to favor Lon, his oldest boy and the only one old enough to serve. The narrator changes the subject and heads to bed, but as he climbs the stairs, he hears Bill cough and clear his throat, then say thickly, "I'd see 't he went." A gust of wind extinguishes the narrator's light before he can look back at Bill.
By Payson Sibley Wild · First published 1869 · Genre: War Poetry, Narrative Poetry, Rural/Pastoral Literature · 1,505 words
First lines
(_February, 1917_)
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Genres
- War Poetry — The poem directly addresses the prospect of American involvement in World War I, with Bill explicitly discussing whether the nation is prepared for war, making military conflict the central theme.
- Narrative Poetry — The work tells a complete story in verse form through dialogue and description, developing characters and plot with a dramatic arc culminating in emotional revelation about Bill's son.
- Rural/Pastoral Literature — Set on a farm with extensive depiction of agricultural life, farming concerns, animals, weather, and rural dialect, establishing a strong pastoral setting and lifestyle.
- Social Commentary — Bill's analysis of American military weakness and his metaphor about the nation needing hardening reflects critical observation of contemporary social and political conditions.
Tags
war · World War I · 1917 · farm · rural America · American Midwest · winter · farmer · father and son · military readiness · national character · hardship
What this Textopian page supports
Bill on War is listed on Textopian as a poem by Payson Sibley Wild, dated 1869 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Payson Sibley Wild
- Date: 1869 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: War Poetry, Narrative Poetry, Rural/Pastoral Literature, Social Commentary, Historical Fiction
- Length: 1,505 words
- Structure: 1 section, 6 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Bill on War by Payson Sibley Wild
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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