Whose thoughtfulness provides the soil
Wherein a poet's restless toil
May raise, through drought and frost and showers,
His kittle and refractory flowers:
For only in two kinds of earth
Can poets bring their songs to birth-
In sorrow's rich and heavy clay,
Or else (and here's the rarer way)
Out of the loamy light caress
Of an abundant happiness.
(Between lie barren lands and bare,
Sterile contentment, stony care.)
Therefore, best critic and best friend,
To you these doggerel thanks I send
For each delightful day, each charming year
Your presence has ensured for me, my dear.