Markham, << MAHR kuhm, >> Edwin (1852-1940), was an American poet. He wrote many volumes of poetry, but he is best remembered for two individual poems. They are “The Man with the Hoe” (1899) and “Lincoln, the Man of the People” (1901).
“The Man with the Hoe” is a powerful work of social protest based on a painting by Jean Francois Millet of France. The poem sympathetically portrays a farmer living in poverty who has become brutalized by years of overwork. It refers to the farmer as “… a brother to the ox” and attacks those who have taken advantage of his labor. In “Lincoln, the Man of the People,” Markham commemorated the American President Abraham Lincoln.
Markham was born on April 23, 1852, in Oregon City, Oregon. His real name was Charles Edward Anson Markham. He worked as a schoolteacher and school principal before the popularity of “The Man with the Hoe” enabled him to devote himself to writing. He died on March 7, 1940.
