Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, HAYING TIME IN VERMONT, by DANIEL LEAVENS CADY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

HAYING TIME IN VERMONT, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: There's something more to 'haying time'
Last Line: Is that it?
Subject(s): Poetry & Poets; Vermont


THERE'S something more to "haying time"
Than jest machinery's rattling rhyme;
Than Hoorah Boys and Men and Teams!
Than sagging sheds and hot highbeams;
Than scratching rake and crawling cart
And snakes bisected through the heart—
What is it?

There's something more than calloused hands
And stiff old neck and pouring glands;
Than grinding scythes while yet it's night
And doing chores by Dog Star light;
Than being forced at last to hire
A lame man and the village liar—
What is it?

There's something more than blistered skin
And bed too tired to wiggle in;
Than dodging through the appletrees
To shake a squad of bumblebees;
Than carting in your crop so wet
You know the "middle bent" will sweat—
What is it?

There's more than cussing mice and moles
And getting mad at woodchuck holes;
Than having half your load slide off
In sight of folks a-playing golf;
Than chasing wandering Pats and Petes
That turn your haycaps into sheets—
What is it?

There's more than "pitching on" so swift
Your pipe goes out each time you lift;
Than "picking out" the Pratt lot swale
And curing timothy with hail;
Than trips to Hastings' blacksmith shop
To make that pounding pitman stop—
What is it?

They say there's nothing folks will shirk
A-quicker than a hard day's work,
And yet, there's nothing anywhere
That cures more ills or kills more care;
No, Sir: there's nothing 'neath the sun
Compared with red-hot work well done—
Is that it?





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