Dedicated to Charles T. White, Esq.
"The Reaper on the Plain" (1852)
Words by C. G. Eastman, Esq.
Music by George Frederick Root

1.
Bending o'er his sickle,
'Mid the yellow grain,
Lo! the sturdy reaper,
Reaping on the plain;
Singing as the sickle,
Gathers to his hand,
Rustling in its ripeness,
The glory of the land.

SOLO CHORUS
Mark the grain before him
Swaying in the wind,
And the even gavel
Following behind,
Bound in armfull bundles,
Standing one by one,
The yester morning's labor,
Ripens in the sun.

2.
Long I've stood and ponder'd,
Gazing from the hill,
While the sturdy reaper
Sung and labor'd still,
Bending o'er his sickle,
'Mid the yellow grain,
Happy and contented
Reaping on the plain.

SOLO CHORUS
And as upon my journey
I leave the maple tree,
Thinking of the difference
Between the man and me,
I turn again to see him
Reaping on the plain,
And almost wish my labor
Were the sickle and the grain.