Poetry Friday - The Grass So Little Has to Do

This was the daily poem for Wednesday on the Classic Poetry Aloud podcast. I think it's a perfect choice for this week for a couple of reasons. First of all, I'm incredibly busy, grading huge stacks of student drafts. I'm feeling kind of jealous of that grass right about now, having so little to do. And secondly, with the wonderful rain we've been having, the grass on our field at school is lush and beautiful. It makes me happy just to look at it. In the middle of a hot, smelly city that's mostly made of concrete it's an oasis, a little garden, a "sphere of simple Green."

The Grass so little has to do
by Emily Dickinson (1830 – 1886)

The Grass so little has to do –
A Sphere of simple Green –
With only Butterflies to brood
And Bees to entertain –

And stir all day to pretty Tunes
The Breezes fetch along –
And hold the Sunshine in its lap
And bow to everything –

And thread the Dews, all night, like Pearls –
And make itself so fine
A Duchess were too common
For such a noticing –

And even when it dies – to pass
In Odors so divine –
Like Lowly spices, lain to sleep –
Or Spikenards, perishing –

And then, in Sovereign Barns to dwell –
And dream the Days away,
The Grass so little has to do
I wish I were a Hay –

The roundup for today is at Findings.