Chaucer 'Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote...' At the top of your voice, where you swayed on the top of a stile, Your arms raised—somewhat for balance, somewhat To hold the reins of the straining attention Of your imagined audience—you declaimed Chaucer To a field of cows. And the Spring sky had done it With its flying laundry, and the new emerald Of the thorns, the hawthorn, the blackthorn, And one of those bumpers of champagne You snatched unpredictably from pure spirit. Your voice went over the fields towards Grantchester. It must have sounded lost. But the cows Watched, then approached: they appreciated Chaucer. You went on and on. Here were reasons To recite Chaucer. Then came the Wyf of Bath, Your favorite character in all literature. You were rapt. And the cows were enthralled. They shoved and jostled shoulders, making a ring, To gaze into your face, with occasional snorts Of exclamation, renewed their astounded attention, Ears angling to catch every inflection, Keeping their awed six feet of reverence Away from you. You just could not believe it. And you could not stop. What would happen If you were to stop? Would they attack you, Scared by the shock of silence, or wanting more—? So you had to go on. You went on— And twenty cows stayed with you hypnotized. How did you stop? I can't remember You stopping. I imagine they reeled away— Rolling eyes, as if driven from their fodder. I imagine I shooed them away. But Your sostenuto rendering of Chaucer Was already perpetual. What followed Found my attention too full And had to go back into oblivion. —Ted Hughes --

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