At sunset, a woman in a canoe paddles slowly to the speaker’s rocky shore, just as she might have done two hundred years earlier. She has come to trade fish and woven baskets, and the speaker offers her a hand-made coat of colored wool. The exchange is simple and direct. Each person offers something crafted or gathered from their own life. The speaker feels a quiet sense of connection across time—her own way of living does not seem far from that older world. The mood is calm, almost hushed, lit by the embers of sunset and shaped by mutual respect. The final line, “We were both satisfied!” carries genuine warmth: not a grand transaction, but a moment when two people meet each other’s needs and part as equals.
Trade — Summary
It might have been two hundred years ago, For all the difference in her way or mine, That her canoe, with paddle dipping slow, Just as the sunset ran to embers low, Stopped at my rocky door.
With fish and basketwork she plied her trade, And I, to help a little money last, Answered her barter with a coat I made Of coloured wool--oh, many seasons past! We were both satisfied!