Let th' Earth

Put forth the verdant Grass, Herb yeilding Seed,

And Fruit Tree yeilding Fruit after her kind;

Whose Seed is in her self upon the Earth.

He scarce had said, when the bare Earth, till then

Desert and bare, unsightly, unadorn'd,

Brought forth the tender Grass, whose verdure clad

Her Universal Face with pleasant green,

Then Herbs of every leaf, that sudden flour'd

Op'ning thir various colours, and made gay

Her bosom smelling sweet: and these scarce blown,

Forth flourish't thick the clustring Vine, forth crept

The swelling Gourd, up stood the cornie Reed

Embattell'd in her field: add the humble Shrub,

And Bush with frizl'd hair implicit: last

Rose as in Dance the stately Trees, and spred

Thir branches hung with copious Fruit; or gemm'd

Thir Blossoms: with high Woods the Hills were crownd,

With tufts the vallies & each fountain side,

The Spring god talked the green world into being.

She said to earth, "Push up the verdant grasses

And all the vegetation bearing seed

The fruit trees yielding their own distinct fruits

To hold and spread the seeds of progeny."

And earth no sooner heard, still bleak and bare,

But that her crust burst forth with tender Grass

That softened to a face of smiling green,

And then with broad-leafed herbs that sudden bloomed

To dress her breast in luscious colored flowers

And fragrance sweet. And still more growth,

The lengthy vines emerged and soon grew thick

Swelling with squash and pumpkin. Ranks of grain

Sprang up in fields and shrubby chapparel

Impen'trable thickets sprouted. Climaxing

Above this growth, majestic trees up rose

Reached out their overarching limbs adroop

With fruit and flower, and crowned in groves

The hills, gave shade to springs riparian,

And bordered watercourses.