The prairie ocean rolled away To the rim of a turquoise bowl. Wind-spun perfume on waves of heat Aspired to a cloud-fleeced goal. Three great black silent butterflies Toiled, fluttering, in the field. Behold,—the passing farmfolk said, The Sisters cut their yield. One tossed the hay upon the rack; One drove the gentle team; One reared a prairie pyramid Against a wooden beam. Their starched white wimples, closely bound, Lay limp on dampened cheeks; Athwart wide-streaming woolen veils Perched hats with rain-warped peaks. Blue gingham aprons could not hide The swaying chains of beads, Whose quick click-click was antiphone To lark-song from the meads. The youngest nun—kin to the rose That flecked the greensward seas, Wrought symmetries of flashing tines, Like silver-shot green frieze. She knelt to free her flowing hem From clinging briar-thorn. Like this, mayhap, the Virgin's robes Trailed fresh-strewn hay one morn. Then smiled the little cloister-maid With reverence in her eyes, As flashed a scene from far-off days And distant Eastern skies. Dear Sisters, they were women, too, And such as we—she said— Who gleaned sweet grass from sunlit plains To line the manger bed. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DEAD LEAVES by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON OFFERING by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON SAVORING THE PAST by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE SEASONS by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON RICHARD BOOTH TO HIS SON JUNIUS BRUTUS by EDGAR LEE MASTERS SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: HENRY PHIPPS by EDGAR LEE MASTERS SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: MAGRADY GRAHAM by EDGAR LEE MASTERS HOMAGE TO SEXTUS PROPERTIUS: 4. DIFFERENCE OF OPINION WITH LYGDAMUS by EZRA POUND |