Poetryanthologyproject (2)

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 An Anthology of Agricultural Poems James Cebulla Molly Johnson Josh Breneville Anne Harding


Our group chose the unusual theme of “Farming” for our anthology. We thought this was another branch off of the common nature theme found in a many familiar poems. But, through our research and finding of poems, we realized that farming means so much more. It is big part of history, with many early societies being dependent on hunting and gathering. This is also true for many cultures today, which value farming, not only for food, but also for employment, religious purposes and social enjoyment. After poring through poems from all over the world, the different connections and perspectives people have on farming is clear. One thing is for sure though, there is more to farming than just animals and crops. Many of our poems focus on the joys of farming like, To Encourage Farming and A Farm­house on the Wei River. Others speak of the struggles that a farmers may face, from shame and embarrassment (romance) to heavy confinement and longing for something more (The Cow in Apple Time and The Meaning of the Shovel). It was interesting to read about how farming is different depending on locations, too. Western countries, China especially, heavily depend on farming and it was apparent in the poems. While we have moved away from a farming dependent society, these countries are still covered by a large amount of farmland. In Eastern Europe, harvesting is important too, as seen in the works of Seamus Heaney, such as Digging. Our group loved seeing this contrast. In the Table of Contents, we tried to order our poems so that not one poem of a similar culture was after the other. We hope the reader can get a clear grasp of farming and it’s diversity from around the world. Our poems also vary in length and style, and we hope the reader will notice that as well. Not all of our poems are about the act of farming necessarily, but all are certainly related. Along with a variety of poems, we also chose a variety of images. Some are photographs of grassy landscapes and animals. Others are drawings of classic farm images, like silos. We hope the images will add to the reading of the poems, but the reader will still allow their mind to create its own image. Overall, through our anthology, we believe we have a great collection of poems from various cultures, all centering around the sometimes neglected subject of farming and agriculture. It was a very enjoyable experience for us and we can all say we learned a great deal. We hope you enjoy reading the anthology as much as we enjoyed creating it!

­James, Anne, Josh and Molly


Table of Contents: 1. To Encourage Farming ­ T’ao Ch’ien ( James ) 2. The Mad Gardener’s Song – Lewis Carroll ( Anne ) 3. A Farmhouse on the Wei River – Wang Wei ( Molly ) 4. The Meaning of a Shovel – Martin Espada ( James ) 5. The Magpies – Denis Glover ( Anne ) 6. Digging – Shamus Heaney (Molly ) 7. The Legend of Evil – Rachel Kom ( Anne ) 8. Grass ­ Bai Juyi (James) 9. Romance – Ed Roberson ( Molly ) 10. I’m Soaked Through With You ­ Rudyard Kipling ( Anne ) 11. The Hunted – Josephine Preston Peabody ( James ) 12. The Cow in Apple Time ­ Robert Frost ( Molly )


Poems: James “To Encourage Farming” ­ T’ao Ch’ien “To Encourage Farming” © 2012, U.S. Department of Agriculture, used under an Attribution 2.0 Generic license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Anne “The Mad Gardener” ­ Lewis Carroll “Country flower garden” © 2009, Steve Brown, used under an Attribution­Share Alike an Attribution­NonCommercial­ShareAlike 2.0 license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by­nc­sa/2.0/


James “ Rainbound in Autumn” ­ Yu Xuanji ( Page 98) “Rainbound in Autumn” © 2013, Remi Lanvin, used under an Attribution­NonCommercial­ShakeAlike 2.0 Generic License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by­nc­sa/2.0/

Molly “romance” ­ Ed Roberson “Barn and Silo” © 2007 lady_lbrty used under an Attribution 2.0 Generic: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/


Anne “I’m Soaked Through With You” ­Rachel Korn “Field on the outskirt of North Ferriby” © 2010, Jacky Jordan, used under an Attribution­Share Alike an Attribution­NonCommercial­ShareAlike 2.0 license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by­nc­sa/2.0/

James “The Hunted” ­ Josephine Preston Peabody “burning sky” © 2012, Yarik. OK, used under an Attribution 2.0 Generic license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/


Anne “The Magpies” ­ Denis Glover “A Pair of Magpies in a Tree” © 2008, Digital Brownie, used under an Attribution­Share Alike an Attribution­NonCommercial­ShareAlike 2.0 license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by­nc­sa/2.0/

Anne “ The meaning of the shovel” ­ Martin Espada “Snow Shovellers” © 2010, David, used under an Attribution 2.0 Generic license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ Anne “The Legend of Evil” ­ Rudyard Kipling “Monkeys Rajasthan” © 2008, Simon Mendes, used under an Attribution­Share Alike an Attribution­NonCommercial­ShareAlike 2.0 license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by­nc­sa/2.0/


Poem #1 To Encourage Farming By T’ao Ch’ien Oh, how far off are the days of old! At the beginning, mortal man Was innocent and self­sufficient; He embraced simplicity and held to the truth Then arose intelligence and skill, And he had no dependable livelihood. Who cared for him? Truly, all depended on the wise man. The wise men, who were they? One was Hou Chi. How did he feed the people It was said that he taught them planting. The Emperor Shun himself farmed, As did Emperor Yü. As far back as the Book of Chou, Good administration started with farming. The people sang happily. The land was rich, And the plants flourished. The warm breeze was clear. Many men and women took the opportunity of spring to compete with each other. The mulberry women rose early. And farmers slept in the open fields. The spring passed quickly; The warmth of the streams could not last forever. Chi, even without a hoe, worked with his wife. In the muddy swamp lotus root grew. Even the virtuous and the wise Always cultivated the land. How much less itting is it that the masses Should hide their hands in their sleeves and bow. The people’s livelihood depended on diligence. If they were diligent, they would not be poor, But rather serene, content, and at peace. At the end of the year, who worried? If one had not stored piculs and gallons, Then hunger and cold came upon the other. Looking back at all of this, How can a man feel anything but shame? Confucius was virtuous Tung enjoyed music and books, But he never walked in the fields and gardens. If a man could live without work, I would throw away everything and follow this high path. But until then, I dare not do other than gather my sleeves reverently And praise the beauty and virtue of farming.


I selected this poem for its message, which I found to be very important as well as enlightening. T’ao Ch’ien talks a lot about the difference in classes from rich / educated, to poor and uneducated, and how they can appreciate different things. I like the idea that the lower classes of people, the diligent ones who do the farming and are virtuous are forced to hide their hands and bow to those above them who never walk among the fields. It’s an interesting concept from ancient China that addresses the ideas of social inequality. If something like this happened today, where farmers were treated as lesser people to scholar, I think that there would be outcry, as all people are important to a society, just in different ways. The poem ends with the Ch’ien saying that if he was given the option to never work again, he would, but until then he has no choice but to worship what he’s got, which I think is not a bad way to live life, in which you handle what you are given, until a better opportunity arises.


Poem #2 The Mad Gardener’s Song By Lewis Carroll He thought he saw an Elephant,
 That practiced on a fife:
 He looked again, and found it was
 A letter from his wife.
 'At length I realize,' he said, 'The bitterness of Life!' He thought he saw a Buffalo
 Upon the chimney­piece:
 He looked again, and found it was
 His Sister's Husband's Niece. 'Unless you leave this house,' he said,
 'I'll send for the Police!'

“Country flower garden” © 2009, Steve Brown, used under an Attribution­Share Alike an Attribution­NonCommercial­ShareAlike 2.0 license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by­nc­sa/2.0/

He thought he saw a Rattlesnake
 That questioned him in Greek:
 He looked again, and found it was
 The Middle of Next Week.
 'The only thing I regret,' he said,
 'Is that it cannot speak!' He thought he saw a Banker's Clerk
 Descending from the bus:
 He looked again, and found it was
 A Hippopotamus:
 'If this should stay to dine,' he said,
 'There won't be much for us!' He thought he saw a Kangaroo


That worked a coffee­mill:
 He looked again, and found it was 
 A Vegetable­Pill.
 'Were I to swallow this,' he said,
 'I should be very ill!' He thought he saw a Coach­and­Four
 That stood beside his bed:
 He looked again, and found it was
 A Bear without a Head.
 'Poor thing,' he said, 'poor silly thing!
 It's waiting to be fed!' He thought he saw an Albatross
 That fluttered round the lamp:
 He looked again, and found it was
 A Penny­Postage­Stamp.
 'You'd best be getting home,' he said:
 'The nights are very damp!' He thought he saw a Garden­Door
 That opened with a key:
 He looked again, and found it was
 A Double Rule of Three:
 'And all its mystery,' he said,
 'Is clear as day to me!' He thought he saw an Argument
 That proved he was the Pope:
 He looked again, and found it was
 A Bar of Mottled Soap.
 'A fact so dread,' he faintly said,
 'Extinguishes all hope!' Carroll, Lewis. "The Mad Gardener's Song" The Mad Gardener's Song ­ Text of Lewis Carroll. Gary Bachlund, 1 Jan. 2005. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.

I selected this poem because it is fun. It is nonsensical and epitomizes Lewis Carroll’s sense of humor. His poems can be interpreted in many different ways and can have several meanings. Some readers see Lewis Carroll’s work as a reference to society, politics, and human nature, whereas others see his work as silly and meaningless. Throughout the poem, there is a consistent meter. Every other line is eight syllables and then six syllables. There is also a constant rhyme scheme. Every second line rhymes with each other. For instance he rhymes “fife,” “wife,” and “life” in the first stanza. The meter and rhyming of the poem is orderly and consistent, while the poem is actually about chaos and disorder. There is a contradiction to the two aspects.


Poem #3 A FARM­HOUSE ON THE WEI RIVER by Wang Wei In the slant of the sun on the country­side, Cattle and sheep trail home along the lane; And a rugged old man in a thatch door Leans on a staff and thinks of his son, the herdboy. There are whirring pheasants? full wheat­ears, Silk­worms asleep, pared mulberry­leaves. And the farmers, returning with hoes on their shoulders, Hail one another familiarly. ...No wonder I long for the simple life And am sighing the old song, Oh, to go Back Again! I chose this poem because I feel as though it gets to the essence of why many people enjoy farming and pursue it for life. This is because farming really is “the simple life”. Farming includes many tedious but necessary tasks that are completed by rote each day, leading to a calm and ordinary life. The poem also gives an image of a classic farm, with words like “cattle”, “sheep trail” and “mulberry­leaves”. The author of this poem longs for days on the country­side again. Another thing about this poem is that it once again shows father/son dynamics in relation to farming. The son is called the herdboy, given a simple task before he can take over the farm when he is older. I also like how it shows the comradery between farmers as they “hail another familiarly”. Kwan, Yee. English Translation of 50 Selected Chinese Poems. N.p.: urge, 2007. Print.

“Farmhouse en­suite at Malealea Lodge, Lesotho” © 2011 Di Jones, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/


Poem #4

The Meaning of the Shovel BY MARTÍN ESPADA —Barrio René Cisneros Managua, Nicaragua, June­July 1982 This was the dictator’s land before the revolution. Now the dictator is exiled to necropolis, his army brooding in camps on the border, and the congregation of the landless stipples the earth with a thousand shacks, every weatherbeaten carpenter planting a fistful of nails.

Here I dig latrines. I dig because last week I saw a funeral in the streets of Managua, the coffin swaddled in a red and black flag, hoisted by a procession so silent that even their feet seemed


to leave no sound on the gravel. He was eighteen, with the border patrol, when a sharpshooter from the dictator’s army took aim at the back of his head.

I dig because yesterday I saw four walls of photographs: the faces of volunteers in high school uniforms who taught campesinos to read, bringing an alphabet sandwiched in notebooks to places where the mist never rises from the trees. All dead, by malaria or the greedy river or the dictator’s army swarming the illiterate villages like a sky full of corn­plundering birds.


I dig because today, in this barrio without plumbing, I saw a woman wearing a yellow dress climb into a barrel of water to wash herself and the dress at the same time, her cupped hands spilling.

I dig because today I stopped digging to drink an orange soda. In a country with no glass, the boy kept the treasured bottle and poured the liquid into a plastic bag full of ice, then poked a hole with a straw.

I dig because today my shovel struck a clay bowl centuries old, the art of ancient fingers moist with this same earth, perfect but for one crack in the lip.


I dig because I have hauled garbage and pumped gas and cut paper and sold encyclopedias door to door. I dig, digging until the passport in my back pocket saturates with dirt, because here I work for nothing and for everything.

I chose this poem because it was one of the most powerful stories I have ever read. It tells of life under an abusive dictator, of being forced to live and breathe a poverty level that one should not have to live. The speaker keeps digging, for no other purpose than to do, because digging is all he has. I found that incredibly moving. To keep doing something because there are no other options can be seen as the motivation for a lot of people. This speaker has seen poverty, he has seen the effects of cruelty on his people, but he digs because it is all he CAN do. The repetition of “I dig with almost every new idea is similar to the idea of digging itself. It is repetitive, it feels like no progress is being made, but many continue because it is the only meaning their lives have. It is always better to have a purpose to life, than to have no


motivation and nothing to work for. Page #5 The Magpies Denis Glover When Tom and Elizabeth took the farm The bracken made their bed, And Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle The magpies said. Tom’s hand was strong to the plough Elizabeth’s lips were red, And Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle The magpies said. Year in year out they worked While the pines grew overhead, And Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle The magpies said. But all the beautiful crops soon went To the mortgage­man instead, And Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle The magpies said. Elizabeth is dead now (it’s years ago); Old Tom went light in the head; And Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle The magpies said. The farm’s still there. Mortgage corporations Couldn’t give it away. And Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle The magpies said. Glover, Denis. “The Magpies.” Best Loved Poems. London: Little Brown and Company, 2000. Print.


“A Pair of Magpies in a Tree” © 2008, Digital Brownie, used under an Attribution­Share Alike an Attribution­NonCommercial­ShareAlike 2.0 license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by­nc­sa/2.0/ The Magpies is one of the most famous poems in New Zealand. It was written in 1964 and depicts the importance of magpies and farming in New Zealand. The phrase “Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle” is well known throughout the world and especially in New Zealand and Australia. The last two lines in each stanza represent the pattern of nature and how it is always continuous even though peoples’ lives are very short. After “all the beautiful crops soon went to the mortgage­man” (16­17) and “old Tom went light in the head” (18) the magpies continue to say “Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle” and never change. Each stanza consists of only four lines and two of those lines are describing the stages of the couple’s life and the other two about the magpies and nature. This shows the balance between human life and nature.


Poem #6 Digging by Shamus Heaney Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests; snug as a gun. Under my window, a clean rasping sound When the spade sinks into gravelly ground: My father, digging. I look down Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds Bends low, comes up twenty years away Stooping in rhythm through potato drills Where he was digging. The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft Against the inside knee was levered firmly. He rooted out tall tops, buried the bright edge deep To scatter new potatoes that we picked, Loving their cool hardness in our hands. By God, the old man could handle a spade. Just like his old man. My grandfather cut more turf in a day Than any other man on Toner’s bog. Once I carried him milk in a bottle Corked sloppily with paper. He straightened up To drink it, then fell to right away Nicking and slicing neatly, heaving sods Over his shoulder, going down and down For the good turf. Digging. The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and slap Of soggy peat, the curt cuts of an edge Through living roots awaken in my head. But I’ve no spade to follow men like them. Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests. I’ll dig with it.


I chose this poem because I liked the way it dealt with father/son relationships. Heaney reflects on his family history and how the men in his family were farmers, always digging. Heaney does not partake in this though, for he digs with his pen, with his career as a poet. He doesn’t follow in his family footsteps, which is interesting to see. I liked this a lot because it gave a lot of good imagery about farming, with words like “potato mould”, “soggy peat” and “living roots awaken”. The images created are clear and it is apparent that planting is the main part of this farming. Overall, the extended metaphor of “digging” to represent one’s work or passion is effective. It shows how work may be tedious, but there is always more to learn and uncover, similar to the action of digging. Seamus Heaney, "Digging" from Death of a Naturalist. Copyright 1966 by Seamus Heaney. Reprinted with the permission of Farrar, Straus & Giroux, LLC.

“Digging,” © 2010 Harry Pears, used under a Creative Commons Attribution­ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by­sa/2.0/


Poem #7

“Monkeys Rajasthan” © 2008, Simon Mendes, used under an Attribution­Share Alike an Attribution­NonCommercial­ShareAlike 2.0 license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by­nc­sa/2.0/

The Legend of Evil Rudyard Kipling This is the sorrowful story Told when the twilight fails And the monkeys walk together Holding their neighbors' tails: ­­ "Our fathers lived in the forest, Foolish people were they, They went down to the cornland To teach the farmers to play. "Our fathers frisked in the millet, Our fathers skipped in the wheat, Our fathers hung from the branches, Our fathers danced in the street. "Then came the terrible farmers, Nothing of play they knew, Only. . .they caught our fathers And set them to labor too! "Set them to work in the cornland With ploughs and sickles and flails, Put them in mud­walled prisons And ­­ cut off their beautiful tails! "Now, we can watch our fathers, Sullen and bowed and old, Stooping over the millet, Sharing the silly mould,


"Driving a foolish furrow, Mending a muddy yoke, Sleeping in mud­walled prisons, Steeping their food in smoke. "We may not speak to our fathers, For if the farmers knew They would come up to the forest And set us to labor too." This is the horrible story Told as the twilight fails And the monkeys walk together Holding their kinsmen's tails.

Kipling, Rudyard. “The Legend of Evil” Poetry Lovers Page­Rudyard Kipling. PoetryLovers.com, 1956. Web. 22 Oct. 2013.

I selected this poem because I find the author’s life facinating. Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay, India on December 30, 1865, while the British Empire was at its most powerful. He was a hard­core imperialist and strongly believed that Britain should colonize the entire globe. He was sent to an English boarding school at the age of six and lived with foster parents. His foster mother abused him, but he did not speak of it until he was an adult, and then only in his writings. At school, he was inspired by his childhood in India and he began to write creatively. He returned to India when he was sixteen years old. He abandoned his Western culture and immersed himself in Eastern culture. His writing developed while he worked for a newspaper company in India and published his first piece of literature when he was twenty years old. His stories gained popularity and he traveled around the world for inspiration in1889. His travels ended in Liverpool, England and he became even more successful and popular. In 1894, The Jungle Book was published. In 1907 he became the youngest writer to ever win a Nobel Prize for literature. He died on January 18, 1936 at age 70 in London, England.


Poem #8 Grass by Bai Juyi The grass is spreading out across the plain, Each year, it dies, then flourishes again. It's burnt but not destroyed by prairie fires, When spring winds blow they bring it back to life. Afar, its scent invades the ancient road, Its emerald green overruns the ruined town. Again I see my noble friend depart, I find I'm crowded full of parting's feelings.

I picked this poem because it serves as a balance between my other poems. A lot of farming is either living or dying. However, in this work, Juyi goes into detail about how farming is a cycle, and with that uses a modified personification in comparing the dying of the farm grasses to the loss of a friend. Both of these actions have negatives associated with them, they are both a loss. However, with the leaving of a friend, and the loss of the farm grasses, life is merely “burnt, not destroyed”. These things create space for new experiences and ideas. The old scent takes over the ruined town as Juyi says, and new life is created in terms of farms and people.


Poem #9 “Romance” by Ed Roberson it is known why the farmers desert that fondling of their fields why their wives give up the chickens to the sly night that ferrets the moon egg in the trough from between the legs of the fence it is now known why the children are hushed in behind the lamps and the horses excuse themselves into the inconspicuous tufts in the field’s sleep because it is embarrassing this romance of empty space that makes the open smell of cowshit so untouchably near that the white silo in the next farm sweats with moonlight and accidently spills a slight stream of corn

This poem is interesting because it revolves around the “shame” that one has for his profession of farming. This is different than other poems, which praise farming. It is remarkable to see the diverse perspectives of different poems in the same topic. Some people love farming and think the “simple life” is the best life. But romance deals with the shame one feels doing menial work. It is interesting because this poem was picked from a collection of African American poems and this could be compared to slavery perhaps. Maybe both farming and slavery relate to doing “dirty work” for others, which could lead to embarrassment. I also like the lack of capitalization and punctuation to show the realness and thought­like idea of the poet. It’s as if he just got frustrated by everything and just wrote exactly why farming is shameful to him without any second thoughts. Dungy, Camille T. Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry. Athens: University of Georgia, 2009. Print. “Barn and Silo” © 2007 lady_lbrty used under an Attribution 2.0 Generic: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/


Poem #10 I’m Soaked Through With You Rachel Korn I’m soaked through with you, like earth with spring rain, and my fairest day hangs on the pulse near the branch of a flowering linden. I’m over you like the promise of surfeit in the time when the wheat comes up even with the rye in the field. From the tips of my fingers my devotion pours on your tired head and my years like sown acres become timely ripe and gravid with the pain of loving you, beloved man. Rachael Korn “I’m Soaked Through With You.” An Anthology of Modern Yiddish Poetry. October House Incorporated,1966.Print

“Field on the outskirt of North Ferriby” © 2010, Jacky Jordan, used under an Attribution­Share Alike an Attribution­NonCommercial­ShareAlike 2.0 license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by­nc­sa/2.0/

Rachel Korn’s Yiddish poem, I’m Soaked Through With You, compares the emotion of love to a field being watered. The field is a symbol of the narrator and the water is a symbol of the man with whom she is in love. Korn uses words such as “pulse” “flowering,” “ripe,” and “gravid” to represent the effect his love has on her. His makes her feel like “earth with spring rain” and “sown acres.” The duration of the relationship makes her feel like she is alive again and that she is growing as a person like “rye in the field.” Ultimately she feels that her love is like the harvest: it is mature and gravid and is prepared to be collected.


Poem #11 The Hunted by Josephine Preston Peabody Come out of exile, come, come: the harvest­fields grow gaunt. The over­lord, he has gone his way. Lordlier spoil is his to­day. Beasts of burden and beasts of prey. Why will you suffer want ? Free of the seas, go free, great­finned : though the sea be filled with nets. Free of the air ; — for the watcher there, after strange prey, forgets. Choose your path as you will, lord ox ; for women follow the plough. Take your fill, gray wolf, of the flocks. There are no shepherds now. They have made them gods out of iron and blood ; and they plough a smouldering path. Blind and blinded, they follow now, the eyeless gods of wrath.­6

One of the main reasons I selected this poem was the dark tone and mood, most of which was conveyed through very strong word choice as well as distinctive line breaks. Peabody uses distinct line breaks to separate powerful ideas such as, “There are no shepherds now”. These definitive line breaks coupled with powerful words such as “blind and blinded” as well as “the eyeless gods of wrath” make for dark imagery that caused me to think of pain and suffering. This was startling to me, as typically farming signifies growth and development, but this showed the opposite site of farming. It showed the dark side, when farming fails, and I really liked being exposed to that darkness after so much brightness.


Poem #12 The Cow in Apple Time by Robert Frost Something inspires the only cow of late To make no more of a wall than an open gate, And think no more of wall­builders than fools. Her face is flecked with pomace and she drools A cider syrup. Having tasted fruit, She scorns a pasture withering to the root. She runs from tree to tree where lie and sweeten The windfalls spiked with stubble and worm­eaten. She leaves them bitten when she has to fly. She bellows on a knoll against the sky. Her udder shrivels and the milk goes dry.

This poem is about a cow that is unsatisfied with her life on the farm. She no longer thinks of walls as barriers, but rather an “open gate”. Humans (“wall­builders”) are “no more than fools”. The cow is realizing that she doesn’t need this farm anymore and that she desires more. I believe the cow is symbolizing a person who realizes he or she can be more than the current life they lead. It could also be about letting go of those who dominate you, like the farmer or in human terms, a boss. It is interesting because it uses a staple farm animal to convey the dissatisfaction of humans. The personification of the cow is extremely effective because it seems very content on the farm, like humans on the outside. But there is a secret desire for something more, especially after having a taste of something better, like “cider syrup” or “fruit”. This is a cool way to approach farming especially by looking at the perspective of an important farm animal and not just the farmer. The rhyme scheme adds to the simplicity of the poem and the cow, as well.

Frost, Robert. Complete Poems of Robert Frost. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1967. Print.

“Cows,” © 2007 JelleS, used under a Creative Commons Attribution­ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by­sa/2.0/


Works Cited "Bai Juyi English Translations." Chinese Poems. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. <http://www.chinese­poems.com/index.html>. Grasses by Bai Juyi Ch'ien, T'ao. The Poems of T'ao Ch'ien. Trans. Lily Pao­Hu Chang and Marjorie Sinclair. Honolulu: Tongg Publishing Company, 1953. Print. The poems of T'ao Ch'ien Marks, Josephine Peabody. Harvest Moon. New York City: Josephine Peabody Marks, 1916. Print. "The Meaning of the Shovel." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, 2003. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/177388>. Meaning of the Shovel poem

Images Cited “To Encourage Farming” © 2012, U.S. Department of Agriculture, used under an Attribution 2.0 Generic license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ “Rainbound in Autumn” © 2013, Remi Lanvin, used under an Attribution­NonCommercial­ShakeAlike 2.0 Generic License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by­nc­sa/2.0/ “Burning Sky” © 2012, Yarik. OK, used under an Attribution 2.0 Generic license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ “Snow Shovellers” © 2010, David, used under an Attribution 2.0 Generic license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/


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