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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
PREMATURE FLOWER, by WALTER JOHN COATES
First Line: See that goldenrod! Isn't it handsome?
Last Line: "when corn is in the crib and potatoes in the cellar!"
Subject(s): Flowers; Goldenrod; Seasons
First Line: See that goldenrod! Isn't it handsome?
Last Line: "when corn is in the crib and potatoes in the cellar!"
Subject(s): Flowers; Goldenrod; Seasons
"See that goldenrod! Isn't it handsome?"
"Goldenrod? No, I don't want to see it;
Goldenrod is the harbinger of dead leaves,
Withered grass, brown hillsides
And snow-capped summits. No,
I don't care to see it. And, anyway,
This must be an early variety of the plant,
For everybody knows goldenrod shouldn't come
So early in July as now.
"Why man, think. Strawberry season
Is barely past. Raspberries
Are newly turning; and here are black-caps
Just ripened beside the road.
Columbine, indeed, has podded
And gone to seed,
But delphinium is yet showing heavenly blue,
And gladiolus are unsheathing calico colors
On the hill.
"Goldenrod, indeed!
Who thinks of decay, of seed-time and harvest,
Of fall winds and frost-patterns,
Of bifrost bridges and hel-shoes,
When summer and sunshine are here.
Time enough for goldenrod thoughts
When corn is in the crib and potatoes in the cellar!"
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