"Cynddylan on a Tractor"

Ah, you should see Cynddylan on a tractor.
Gone the old look that yoked him to the soil,
He's a new man now, part of the machine,
His nerves of metal and his blood oil.
The clutch curses, but the gears obey
His least bidding, and lo, he's away
Out of the farmyard, scattering hens.
Riding to work now as a great man should,
He is the knight at arms breaking the fields'
Mirror of silence, emptying the wood
Of foxes and squirrels and bright jays.
The sun comes over the tall trees
Kindling all the hedges, but not for him
Who runs his engine on a different fuel.
And all the birds are singing, bills wide in vain,
As Cynddylan passes proudly up the lane.


R. S. Thomas (1913 - 2000)





A bright red Ferguson tractor outside the jam-making factory of Wilkin & Sons Ltd in Tiptree, Essex, once used on their fruit farm.  I went for a wander around their museum pieces of old farming equipment this afternoon.  My extra photo is of "The Bentall" CXB Chaff Cutter.