For a Reader of Garden Books
by HELEN BEVINGTON
BECAUSE it says to, not for whim,
Recite a loud ancestral hymn;
Beseech Arcturus his clear light
Upon your seedlings; keep the rite
To Ceres, votive let it be;
And to ensure fertility
By these observances, well-sung,
For measure add some honest dung.
Petition first for rain, and bring
Two extra pots for watering.
Fright off the overweening birds
With clamor, or with magic words.
Then lavish labor, at great price
(On this is Virgil most precise),
Because it says to! Come and look.
I read it in a Garden Book.
Recite a loud ancestral hymn;
Beseech Arcturus his clear light
Upon your seedlings; keep the rite
To Ceres, votive let it be;
And to ensure fertility
By these observances, well-sung,
For measure add some honest dung.
Petition first for rain, and bring
Two extra pots for watering.
Fright off the overweening birds
With clamor, or with magic words.
Then lavish labor, at great price
(On this is Virgil most precise),
Because it says to! Come and look.
I read it in a Garden Book.