Friday, August 24, 2007

POETRY FRIDAY: In Harvest


I am not a lover of hot, humid weather. When I was still teaching, I will admit, I didn’t enjoy saying farewell to carefree summer days as I returned to school in mid-August to get my classroom ready for the beginning of school. Still, I welcomed the end-of-summer/beginning-of-autumn…and the cooler, drier evenings. I relished the corn on the cob that we bought at local farm stand. I enjoyed picking the large, juicy beefsteak tomatoes from my grandfather’s garden. I loved the plum jam my grandmother made with fruit from the small plum tree in my grandparents’ backyard.

With the edible bounty that issues forth at this time of year and the changing of seasons in mind, I selected Sophie Jewett’s In Harvest for Poetry Friday.

In Harvest
by Sophie Jewett (1861-1909)

Mown meadows skirt the standing wheat;
I linger, for the hay is sweet,
New-cut and curing in the sun.
Like furrows, straight, the windrows run,
Fallen, gallant ranks that tossed and bent
When, yesterday, the west wind went
A-rioting through grass and grain.
To-day no least breath stirs the plain;
Only the hot air, quivering, yields
Illusive motion to the fields
Where not the slenderest tassel swings.


You can read the rest of the poem here.


I have links to some back-to-school poems and reviews of two books of school poems at Wild Rose Reader today.

5 comments:

Becky said...

I love this poem and this time of year, too, Elaine!

And I find it's definitely easier to get my kids'/students' attention when I don't have to compete with Summer!

PS Another bonus to cooler weather and not as much to do outdoors -- a chance to catch up on my blog reading!

Anonymous said...

Question for Alvina to perhaps answer Monday?

You have been acquiring a lot lately (congratulations!) How many projects do you acquire per year? You must be really busy now with all these new things on your desk. Do you ever turn away projects simply because you're "maxed out?"

tanita✿davis said...

Oh, the tomatoes... Yum.
I hate hot weather too, but such a trade-off... and pumpkins next!

Elaine Magliaro said...

Becky,

I had never read this poem before the other day...and it struck a chord with me. My maternal grandparents kept a big garden in their back yard. They also had fruit trees. There's nothing like tomatoes that are homegrown.

Elaine Magliaro said...

Tadmack,

You're a tomato lover! Join the club. I also love autumn in New England. September and October are my favorite months.