A Seed

Trees long again to grow
Aprille, the cruellest month, is the ^1,2
hour given over
to a make-piece animal
with a sky-provided diadem ³
whose stinging whistle ⁴
keeps our ships from
crossing

Fool finds it in the ground
Swallows it whole
The seed he cannot chew
Trees long again to grow
hungry in the evening
Fires are still burning full

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1. Canterbury Tales, Chaucer
2. “The Wasteland,” Eliot
3. The Book of Revelation
4. La Peste, Camus