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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE HOP-GARDEN: BOOK 2: THE NAIL IN THE GRASS by CHRISTOPHER SMART

Poet Analysis

First Line: WHEN IN THE BAG THY HOPS THE RUSTIC TREADS
Last Line: WITH INDIGNATION AT THE NEGRO'S NAIL.
Subject(s): GRASS; SLAVERY; SERFS;
WHEN in the bag thy hops the rustic treads,
Let him wear heelless sandals; nor presume
Their fragrancy barefooted to defile:
Such filthy ways for slaves in Malaga
Leave we to practise—whence I've often seen,
When beautiful Dorinda's iv'ry hand
Has built the pastry fabric (food divine
For Christmas gambols, and the hour of mirth),
As the dried foreign fruit, with piercing eye,
She culls suspicious—lo! she starts, she frowns
With indignation at the Negro's nail.



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