LESSON 16
THE CORN SONG

1. Heap high the farmer's wintry hoard!

Heap high the golden corn!

No richer gift has Autumn poured

From out her lavish horn!

2. Let other lands, exulting, glean

The apple from the pine,

The orange from its glossy green,

The cluster from the vine;

3. We better love the hardy gift

Our rugged vales bestow,

To cheer us, when the storm shall drift

Our harvest fields with snow.

4. Through vales of grass and meads of flowers

Our plows their furrows made,

While on the hills the sun and showers

Of changeful April played.

5. We dropped the seed o'er hill and plain,

Beneath the sun of May,

And frightened from our sprouting grain

The robber crows away.

6. All through the long, bright days of June,

Its leaves grew green and fair,

And waved in hot midsummer's noon

Its soft and yellow hair.

7. And now, with Autumn's moonlit eves,

Its harvest time has come;

We pluck away the frosted leaves

And bear the treasure home.

8. There, richer than the fabled gift

Apollo showered of old,

Fair hands the broken grain shall sift,

And knead its meal of gold.

9. Let vapid idlers loll in silk,

Around their costly board;

Give us the bowl of samp and milk,

By homespun beauty poured!

10. Where'er the wide old kitchen hearth

Sends up its smoky curls,

Who will not thank the kindly earth

And bless our farmer girls!

11. Then shame on all the proud and vain,

Whose folly laughs to scorn

The blessing of our hardy grain,

Our wealth of golden corn!

12. Let earth withhold her goodly root;

Let mildew blight the rye,

Give to the worm the orchard's fruit,

The wheat field to the fly:

13. But let the good old crop adorn

The hills our fathers trod;

Still let us, for his golden corn,

Send up our thanks to God!

From Whittier's “Songs of Labor.”

STUDY GUIDE

A. Word Definition

1.hoard:stock or store.

2.lavish:producing in large quantities.

3.exulting:rejoicing.

4.meads:meadows.

5.vapid:spiritless,dull.

6.samp:bruised corn cooked by boiling.

7.folly:foolishness.

8.blight:harm,spoil.

B. Comprehension Questions

1. In what season do the farmers in “The Corn Song” harvest their crop?

2. In which of these countries is corn grown?

a. Belgium

b. Nepal

c. Sierra Leone

d. Mexico

3. The author makes it sound like growing corn in the nineteenth century was easy. Do you think this was always true?

4. In what month do the farmers in “The Corn Song” plant the corn?

5. Corn is the most produced grain in the world? Why?

6. Why does the author consider corn more valuable than wheat or rye?

7. Label these statements as true or false.

a. Corn is sometimes fed to animals. _____

b. All North American farmers in the 19th century were wealthy. _____

c. Corn ethanol is used in gasoline. _____

8. Do you think the author intended “The Corn Song” to be set to music and sung? Why or why not?

C. Writing Work

Describe how to cook and eat corn on the cob.