There is no gilding of setting sun or glamor of poetry to light

"There is no gilding of setting sun or glamor of poetry to light up the ferocious and endless toil of the farmers' wives." — so wrote Hamlin Garland, the American realist whose pen sought to reveal the harsh truths of rural life in the late nineteenth century. In this sentence he strips away the romantic veil that so often cloaked the image of farm life. Poets and painters might praise the golden fields, the glowing sunsets, and the noble labors of the countryside, but Garland reminds us that beneath the beauty of nature lay the ferocious and endless toil borne by women whose labor was relentless, uncelebrated, and unadorned by glory.

The farmers’ wives, in Garland’s vision, represent the unacknowledged backbone of agricultural life. Their work was ceaseless: cooking, cleaning, tending children, nursing the sick, preserving food, caring for animals, and managing the home in conditions of hardship and isolation. Unlike the farmer whose toil was visible in the fields, the labor of the wife was hidden, taken for granted, and rarely praised. No poet immortalized her in verse; no sunset could mask the exhaustion etched into her face. Garland sought to give voice to the voiceless, to show that poetry and beauty, while true in part, were often used as illusions that concealed the suffering of real lives.

This honesty was born from Garland’s own experiences. Raised in the Midwest, he had seen the realities of rural life firsthand. His writings broke from the romantic tradition of portraying farm life as idyllic, instead crafting what he called "veritism"—a literature devoted to truth, no matter how painful. For Garland, the lives of farmers’ wives embodied this truth: they carried burdens that no glamor could soften, their days consumed by labor that was invisible to society and undervalued by culture. His words are not only descriptive but accusatory, calling out the neglect of a society that preferred comforting illusions to harsh reality.

History offers us vivid examples of this hidden strength. Consider the pioneer women of the American frontier, who crossed vast plains in wagons, bore children under the open sky, and built homes from sod while their husbands worked the fields. Their sacrifices were rarely chronicled, their struggles largely forgotten, yet without them, families and farms could not have survived. Their lives were testimonies to Garland’s truth: there was no gilding of setting sun for them, only resilience forged in silence.

Yet within Garland’s lament lies a deeper lesson about how society values labor. The most essential work is often the least praised. Just as the farmers’ wives were overlooked, so too have countless others throughout history toiled without recognition: the mothers who raise generations, the workers who sustain economies, the caregivers who tend the weak. Their labor may not shine with the glamor of art or literature, but it sustains life itself. Garland’s words demand that we look unflinchingly at reality and give honor where it is due, even when it lacks beauty.

The lesson for us is this: do not let poetry or beauty blind you to truth. Appreciate sunsets, yes, but do not let them conceal the struggles of those who live beneath their fading light. Honor not only the celebrated but also the unseen. Speak of beauty, but never forget justice. To see only glamor is to dwell in illusion; to see toil alongside beauty is to embrace the fullness of life.

Practical action is clear. Acknowledge the labor that sustains you — whether it be a parent’s care, a worker’s effort, or the sacrifices of those who serve silently. Give thanks, not only in words but in deeds: lighten their burdens, honor their work, and refuse to let their sacrifices remain hidden. Read and share the stories of those whose toil is overlooked, for in doing so, you bring light where society has allowed shadow.

Thus Garland’s words endure: “There is no gilding of setting sun or glamor of poetry to light up the ferocious and endless toil of the farmers’ wives.” It is a cry against the false veil of romanticism and a call to honor the unvarnished truth. Let us learn from his wisdom to see beauty honestly, to face hardship directly, and to grant dignity to those whose labor is too often left unsung. For only then can poetry itself rise to its highest calling — not to obscure truth, but to reveal it.