‘Tis the feast of corn, ’tis the feast of bread,
On the dear scene returned to, witnessed again!
So white is the light o’er the reapers shed
Their shadows fall pink on the level grain.
The stalked gold drops to the whistling flight
Of the scythes, whose lightning dives deep, leaps clear;
The plain, labor-strewn to the confines of sight,
Changes face at each instant, gay and severe.
All pants, all is effort and toil ‘neath the sun,
The stolid old sun, tranquil ripener of wheat,
Who works o’er our haste imperturbably on
To swell the green grape yon, turning it sweet.
Work on, faithful sun, for the bread and the wine,
Feed man with the milk of the earth, and bestow
The frank glass wherein unconcern laughs divine,—
Ye harvesters, vintagers, work on, aglow!
For from the flour’s fairest, and from the vine’s best,
Fruit of man’s strength spread to earth’s uttermost,
God gathers and reaps, to His purposes blest,
The Flesh and the Blood for the chalice and host!
(Paul Verlaine)
More Poetry from Paul Verlaine:
Paul Verlaine Poems based on Topics: Light, Man, Sense & Perception, God, Work & Career, Change, Wine- Birds In The Night (Paul Verlaine Poems)
- What Sayest Thou, Traveller (Paul Verlaine Poems)
- Since Shade Relents (Paul Verlaine Poems)
- Clair De Lune (Paul Verlaine Poems)
- Give Ear Unto The Gentle Lay (Paul Verlaine Poems)
- It Is You (Paul Verlaine Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Man Poems, God Poems, Light Poems, Sense & Perception Poems, Work & Career Poems, Wine Poems, Change PoemsBased on Keywords: harvesters, imperturbably, vintagers, ripener
- Book III - Part 03 - The Soul is Mortal (Lucretius Poems)
- Out Of The East (John Freeman Poems)
- The Golden Legend: VI. The School Of Salerno (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Poems)
- Of The Nature Of Things: Book II - Part 03 - Atomic Forms And Their Combinations (Lucretius Poems)
- Clifton Grove (Henry Kirke White Poems)