HERB - "Hortulus" - "Melon" - long post

[RAISYA@aol.com]

Here's a new one, which comes directly after the "Gourd" poem (he refers to
the previous poem in the opening). - Raisya

"VIII.  Melon

	In the same patch at the bottom of the garden where this fine crop
My humble lines have just described is planted
You will see something else which looks like an eager vine creeping
Over the dusty ground and nursing a rounded fruit.
This one commonly lies on the dry ridges of earth
And the growth it makes is beautiful - until the time when,
Yellow and ripe with summer sun, it fills the gardener's basket.
	Some you will see are completely round and even;
Others you'll find with a drooping oblong belly, the shape
Of a nut or an egg - 
					Or like a soap bubble.  You know how it is
When you hold up a cake of soap:  it gleams in your upraised hands
As the slippery wetness runs over its surface, until by pouring
More water on it you wash the fresh froth off.
But when the fingers work on it, kneading and rubbing purposefully
This way and that, it softens; and then, with your hands together
And only a crack between, if you blow through narrowed lips
Gently, gently, your breath will make the hollow suds
Swell like blown glass, and the curve of the vaulted skin
Meets to form a slippery center at the bubble's base.
	When a knife-blade finds the guts of a melon a gush
Of juice comes out, and many seeds with it.   Then
Your lucky guest can divide by hand the hollow body
Into several pieces and thus enjoy the luscious delicacy.
Its freshness and savour delight the palate; nor can this food
Defeat a man's teeth, for it's easy to eat and its natural
Properties cool and refresh his whole inner body."


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