A Saxon Song

Tools with the comely names,

    Mattock and scythe and spade,

    Couth and bitter as flames,

    Clean, and bowed in the blade,--

A man and his tools make a man and his trade.

    Breadth of the English shires,

    Hummock and kame and mead,

    Tang of the reeking byres,

    Land of the English breed,--

A man and his land make a man and his creed.

    Leisurely flocks and herds,

    Cool-eyed cattle that come

    Mildly to wonted words,

    Swine that in orchards roam,--

A man and his beasts make a man and his home.

    Children sturdy and flaxen

    Shouting in brotherly strife,

    Like the land they are Saxon,

    Sons of a man and his wife,--

For a man and his loves make a man and his life.