Classic Poem

The farmer quit what he was at,
The bee-hive he was smoking;
He tilted back his old straw hat —
Said he, " Young man, yer joking!
O lordy! (Lord, forgiv the swar!)
Ain't ye a cheeky sinner?
Cum, if I giv ye my gal thar,
Whar would you find her dinner?

" Now look at me ; I settled down
When I wus one an' twenty,
Me an' my axe an' Mrs. Brown,
An' stony land a-plenty.
Look up thar! ain't thet humsted fine?
An' look at them thar cattle;
I tell ye, since thet airly time
I've fit a tidy battle.

" It kinder 'rastles down a man
Tew fight the stuns an' mire,
But I sort uv clutched tew thet thar plan
Uv David and Goliar.
Want wus the mean old Philistine
Thet strutted round the clearin';
Uv pebbles I'd a hansum line,
An' flung 'em nuthin' fearin',

" They hit him squar, right whar they ought, —
Them times I had an arm —
I licked the giant an' I bought
A hundred-acre farm.
My gal wus born about them days, —
I wus mowin' in the medder,
When sumone cums along an' sez,
" The wife's gone thru the shadder."

" Times thought it wus God's will she went —
Times thought she worked tew slavin' —
An' fur the young one thet wus sent
I took tew steddy savin'.
Jest cast yer eye on thet thar hill
The sugar bush jest tetches,
An' round by Miller Jackson's mill —
All round the farm stretches.

" 'Ain't got a mind tew giv thet land
Tew any snip-snap feller
Thet don't know loam frum mud or sand,
Or if corn's blue or yeller.
I've got a mind tew keep her yet.
Last fall her cheese an' butter
Took prizes; sakes! I can't furget
Her pretty pride an' flutter.

" Why, you be off! her little face
Fur me's the only summer;
Her gone 'twould be a queer old place —
The Lord smile down upon her!
All goes with her, the house an' lot —
You'd like tew get 'em, very!
I'll give 'em when this maple bears
A bouncin' ripe red cherry. "

The farmer fixed his hat and specs
And pursed his lips together;
The maple waved above his head
Each gold and scarlet feather.
The teacher's honest heart sank down:
How could his soul be merry?
He knew — though teaching in a town —
No maple bears a cherry.

Soft blew the wind; the great old tree,
Like Saul to David's singing,
Nodded its jewelled crown as he
Swayed to the harp-strings' ringing.
A something rosy — not a leaf —
Stirs up amid the branches: —
A miracle may send relief
To lovers fond and anxious.

O rosy is the velvet cheek
Of one 'mid red leaves sitting!
The sunbeams play at hide-and-seek
With the needles in her knitting.
" O Pa! " — the farmer pricked his ears:
Whence came that voice so merry?
The teacher's thoughtful visage clears —
" The maple bears a Cherry! "

The farmer tilted back his hat:
" Wal, gal, as I'm a human,
I'll allus hold as doctrine that
Thar's nuthin' beats a woman!
When crowned thet maple is with snow,
An' Christmas bells are merry,
I'll let ye hev her, Jack — thet's so!
Be sure yer good tew Cherry! "