Look, John! My clover patch is just a failure, I wanted you to sow it. Now you see What comes of letting Hunter do your work. The ground was not plowed right, or disced perhaps, Or harrowed fine enough, or too little seed Was sown. But John, who knows a clover field, Pulls up a plant and cleans the roots of soil And studies them. He says, Look at the roots! Hunter neglected to inoculate The seed, for clover seed must always have Clover bacteria to make it grow, And blossom. In a thrifty field of clover The roots are studded thick with tubercles, Like little warts, made by bacteria. And somehow these bacteria lay hold Upon the nitrogen that fills the soil, And make the plants grow, make them blossom too. When Hunter sowed this field he was not well: He should have hauled some top-soil to this field From some old clover field, or made a culture Of these bacteria and soaked the seed In it before he sowed it. As I said, Hunter was sick when he was working here. And then he ran away to Indiana And left his wife and children. Now he's back. His cough was just as bad in Indiana As it is here. A cough is pretty hard To run away from. Wife and children too Are pretty hard to leave, since thought of them Stays with a fellow and cannot be left. Yes, Hunter's back, but he can't work for you. He's straightening out his little farm and making Provision for his family. Hunter's changed. He is a better man. It almost seems That Hunter's blossomed. ... I am sorry for him. The doctor says he has tuberculosis.
SOMETHING BEYOND THE HILL
To a western breeze A row of golden tulips is nodding. They flutter their golden wings In a sudden ecstasy and say: Something comes to us from beyond, Out of the sky, beyond the hill We give it to you.
And I walk through rows of jonquils To a beloved door, Which you open. And you stand with the priceless gold of your tulip head Nodding to me, and saying: Something comes to me Out of the mystery of Eternal Beauty— I give it to you.
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