| Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912–22. | | | | The Cows | | By Elizabeth Coatsworth |
| | From “Cockle Shells”
I HAVE seen cows that lay in the summer meadows, | |
| Hearing the sound of breezes amidst the grass | |
| While every hair in the sunlight glittered with rainbows. | |
| |
| Oh, but they were bland and placid and smooth and beautiful! | |
| Their mates were great bulls with curl-matted horns | 5 |
| And the bellow of lions. | |
| Their offspring were playful and gay, | |
| With innocent staring eyes. | |
| Laborers toiled in the fields to find them food for the winter, | |
| And built them against the wind dark temples scented with hay; | 10 |
| While women eased them of milk | |
| That swelled their udders at twilight. | |
| I have seen cows that lay in the meadows like gods, | |
| Breathing forth peace that smelled of dampness and clover. | | | | |
|
|
