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.
[ . . . ]
Vita Sackville-West's poem "A Saxon Song" was published in Georgian Poetry, 1920-1922. To read the poem in full in a digitized version of this publication, follow the link below: