Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A BESTIARY: THE ANT, by ANONYMOUS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A BESTIARY: THE ANT, by                    
First Line: "the ant is mighty, tho' small"
Last Line: "now, and on the last great day, / when we be in need"
Subject(s): Ants;insects; Bugs


THE Ant is mighty, tho' small,
And mickle her toil withal,
In summer, and weather soft,
In such wise as we see full oft.
In the harvest-time we see
How she goeth openly,
And runneth to and fro,
And rest doth she seldom know,
But food doth she fetch to her mind
Where'er she the same may find,
And gathers whereon to feed
Whether of wood or of weed;
Corn and grass doth she gather free
Where'er she the same may see;
Such store in her hold hath laid
As later shall be her aid.
When the winter snows lie deep
She into her cave may creep,
And the winter may harm her not
Who meat in her hole hath got
Whereby she may live, I wot!
Thus she layeth up a store
Ere the fitting time be o'er,
So well doth she know her lore.
But wheat above all the rest
Is the corn that she liketh best,
For that will the seed forsake
Of the which but now I spake.
But the barley she leaveth there,
And never about will bear,
She shuns it, and shakes the same,
E'en as she held it shame.
In the Ant is a marvel seen
More than a man doth ween,
The corn that she bears, forthright
The grain she in twain will bite,
Lest it sprout, and be spoilt for meat
Ere she willeth the same to eat.

Significatio

The Ant, she doth teach us still
For our meat to toil and till,
This our livelihood to gain,
The while we on earth remain.
For when we must wend our way
Then cometh our winter's day,
We shall hunger and hardship bear
Save that we here were 'ware.
Do we as the Ant doth here, --
Then I tell ye true,
On that day of Doom so drear
We shall never rue.
Seek we our life's Food, I wis,
Then we sure may be
As the Ant in winter is,
Never lack to see.
As the Ant doth barley shun
When she takes the wheat,
With the Old Law ye have done,
Find the New Law sweet!
As the corn she bears for food
She in twain doth break,
So the Law bids us do good,
Bids us sin forsake;
Gives us earthly rules so good,
Heavenly laws also,
Yet I ween that different food
Soul and Body know;
Our Lord Christ, He bade us aye
On His law to feed,
Now, and on the last great Day,
When we be in need.





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