Poetry · Chapter
Lines Read at a Dairymen’s Supper explained
The poem laments the falling price of grain due to cheap foreign imports from Egypt and India, urging farmers to turn to dairy farming and cheese production as a more reliable source of income.
What happens
The poem laments the falling price of grain due to cheap foreign imports from Egypt and India, urging farmers to turn to dairy farming and cheese production as a more reliable source of income.
Themes in this chapter
Agriculture and Rural Economy
The poem directly addresses the economic challenges of grain farming and advocates for dairy farming and cheese making as a solution.
Key passages
“It almost now seems all in vain For to expect high price for grain, Wheat is grown on Egyptian soil On the banks of mighty Nile.”
It feels futile to hope for good grain prices, since wheat is now grown cheaply in Egypt along the Nile.
Highlights the impact of international competition on local grain markets.
“Then let the farmers justly prize The cows for land they fertilize, And let us all with songs and glees Invoke success into the cheese.”
Farmers should value their cows for fertilizing the land, and we should celebrate and wish for success in cheese making.
Encourages a shift from grain to dairy farming, emphasizing the importance of cheese production.