Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE CHILD READS AN ALMANAC by FRANCIS JAMMES

First Line: THE CHILD READS ON; HER BASKET OF EGGS STANDS BY
Last Line: THEY WEIGH SALT, COFFEE AND THE SOULS OF MEN.
Subject(s): ALMANACS;

THE child reads on; her basket of eggs stands by.
She sees the weather signs, the Saints with awe,
And watches the fair houses of the sky:
The @3Goat,@1 the @3Bull,@1 the @3Ram,@1 et cetera.

And so the little peasant maiden knows
That in the constellations we behold,
Are markets like the one to which she goes
Where goats and bulls and rams are bought and sold.

She reads about that market in the sky.
She turns a page and sees the @3Scales@1 and then
Says that in Heaven, as at the grocery,
They weigh salt, coffee and the souls of men.



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