Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, KNOWING THE WORST, by WALT MASON


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

KNOWING THE WORST, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Every morning john, the granger, looked
Last Line: Surprise you with a chortle when you're looking for a groan.
Subject(s): Drought; Farm Life; Fields; Agriculture; Farmers; Pastures; Meadows; Leas


EVERY morning John, the granger, looked with sadness on his corn, for it was in

deadly danger, by the hot winds seared and torn. Through the weary weeks he'd
tilled it—only nightfall made him stop—hoping by his toil to build it

into something like a crop. It was perishing for water, and the heavens leaked
no more; every day was fiercer, hotter, than the day that went before. And it
seemed to John the granger, as he watched his corn crop go, that henceforth he'd

be a stranger to all things but grief and woe. But when once suspense was ended,

and he knew the crop was gone, "Next year's crop may well be splendid, and I'll

bank on that," said John. "Two bad years don't come together—that would be

too fierce, gadzooks! So next year we'll have such weather as we read about in
books." Thus the buoyant, hopeful mortal rises when the worst is known, to
surprise you with a chortle when you're looking for a groan.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net