In “A Time to Talk,” a farmer pauses in the middle of his work when a friend calls to him from the road. Rather than staying put, glancing at all the hills he hasn’t hoed, and shouting back a quick question, he makes a small, deliberate choice: he stands his hoe in the soft earth, blade up, and plods over to the stone wall for a real visit. The speaker clearly values friendship enough to let it interrupt his labor. There is no rush or annoyance in his voice, only ease and a kind of rural courtesy. The poem’s mood is calm, warm, and unhurried. Work can wait; the chance to talk with someone who has come by may not. The image of the upright hoe marks that pause—he has set his task aside, not abandoned it, to give the moment to another person.
A Time to Talk — Summary
When a friend calls to me from the road And slows his horse to a meaning walk, I don’t stand still and look around On all the hills I haven’t hoed, And shout from where I am, ‘What is it?’ No, not as there is a time to talk. I thrust my hoe in the mellow ground, Blade-end up and five feet tall, And plod: I go up to the stone wall For a friendly visit.