Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


HARVEST-HOME SONG by JOHN DAVIDSON

Poet Analysis

First Line: THE FROST WILL BITE US SOON
Last Line: DRINK DEEP; DRINK IT UP!
Subject(s): DRINKS & DRINKING; HARVEST; WINE;

THE frost will bite us soon;
His tooth is on the leaves:
Beneath the golden moon
We bear the golden sheaves:
We care not for the winter's spite,
We keep our Harvest-home to-night.
Hurrah for the English yeoman!
Fill full, fill the cup!
Hurrah! he yields to no man!
Drink deep; drink it up!

The pleasure of a king
Is tasteless to the mirth
Of peasants when they bring
The harvest of the earth.
With pipe and tabor hither roam
All ye who love our Harvest-home.
The thresher with his flail,
The shepherd with his crook,
The milkmaid with her pail,
The reaper with his hook --
To-night the dullest blooded clods
Are kings and queens, are demigods.
Hurrah for the English yeoman!
Fill full; fill the cup!
Hurrah! he yields to no man!
Drink deep; drink it up!



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