Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE THREE-CORNERED LOT, by NATHALIA CRANE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE THREE-CORNERED LOT, by                    
First Line: Said the farmer to his daughter: 'when I die, as like as not
Last Line: "and the stone walls of the foolish man wherewith to build a home."
Subject(s): Farm Life; Fathers & Daughters; Inheritance & Succession; Agriculture; Farmers; Heirs


SAID the farmer to his daughter: "When I die, as like as not,
I'll leave to you the title to the old three-cornered lot.

" 'Tis the vale beyond the pastures, never any good to me,
With the huckleberry bushes and the silver maple-tree.

"Fair scenery for song birds, but too small to cultivate;
Yet there's a wall around it, like a foolish man's estate."

Fell a blight upon the corn fields; stood an empty barn and cot;
The farmer's holdings dwindled to the old three-cornered lot.

He saw his home dismantled; learned that permanence, alas,
Is the portrait of a swallow painted on the shadow grass.

Came his daughter as a seeress, and she said: "As like as not,
I'm giving back the title to the old three-cornered lot.

" 'Tis just a bit of scenery too sweet to cultivate,
Yet there's a wall around it, like a nobleman's estate;

"There are huckleberry bushes and a length of garden loam,
And the stone walls of the foolish man wherewith to build a home."





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