Wrapped in Earth

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

from Nemean Ode VIII
Some pray for gold, other for boundless land.
I pray to delight my fellow citizens
until my limbs are wrapped in earth --
one who praised what deserves praise
and sowed blame for wrong - doers.

But human excellence
grows like a vine tree
fed by the green dew
raised up, among the wise and the just,
to the liquid sky.

We have all kinds of needs for those we love --
most of all in hardships, but joy, too,
strains to track down eyes that it can trust. (lines 37 - 44)

Pindar, 522–443 BC



"April scatters . . . April changes . . ."

The Months
January brings the snow,
makes our feet and fingers glow.

February brings the rain,
Thaws the frozen lake again.

March brings breezes loud and shrill,
stirs the dancing daffodil.

April brings the primrose sweet,
Scatters daises at our feet.

May brings flocks of pretty lambs,
Skipping by their fleecy damns.

June brings tulips, lilies, roses,
Fills the children's hand with posies.

Hot July brings cooling showers,
Apricots and gillyflowers.

August brings the sheaves of corn,
Then the harvest home is borne.

Warm September brings the fruit,
Sportsmen then begin to shoot.

Fresh October brings the pheasants,
Then to gather nuts is pleasant.

Dull November brings the blast,
Then the leaves are whirling fast.

Chill December brings the sleet,
Blazing fire, and Christmas treat.

Sara Coleridge, 1802 - 1852



The Months
January cold desolate;
February all dripping wet;
March wind ranges;
April changes;
Birds sing in tune
To flowers of May,
And sunny June
Brings longest day;
In scorched July
The storm-clouds fly
Lightning-torn
August bears corn.
September fruit;
In rough October
Earth must disrobe her;
Stars fall and shoot
In keen November;
And night is long
And cold is strong
In bleak December.

Christina Rossetti, 1830 - 94