Perfectly Steeped in Its Lore
Robert Finch. "A Cup of Tea" in The Grand Duke of Moscow's Favourite Solo
This begins with a description of the equipment needed and goes on to muse about labour and climate.
[…]Sipping tea has rarely been so informed.
How many gestures till a cup of tea
Is there to drink! The kitchen tap must free
What in the kettle goes, where it must stay
Until it boils. Meanwhile a simple tray
Will come in handy, with a spotless cloth
And napkin, that the whole array be couth.
Next, cup and saucer, most important these,
Since they may make or mar the best of teas,
[…]
The hands that pick and dry and pack the leaves,
Oh, the poor pittance that their work receives
[…]
There are the gestures, too, of sun, wind, rain,
Their cultivating labours and, again,
[…]
The tea is ready. Could more gestures be
Even thinkable? Yes, one more — pour the tea
And so for day 1942
07.04.2012
