quote · Legacy record
My neighbor hath a little field, Small store of wine its presses yield, And truly but a slender hoard Its harvest brings for barn or board. Yet tho' a hundred fields are mine, Fertile with olive, corn and wine; Tho' Autumn piles my garners high, Still for that little field I sigh. For ah! methinks no otherwhere Is any field so good and fair. Small tho' it be, 'tis better far Than all my fruitful vineyards are, Amid whose plenty sad I pine— "Ah, would the little field were mine!" Large knowledge void of peace and rest, And wealth with pining care possest— These by my fertile lands are meant. That little field is called Content.
My neighbor hath a little field, Small store of wine its presses yield, And truly but a slender hoard Its harvest brings for barn or board. Yet tho' a hundred fields are mine, Fertile with olive, corn and wine; Tho' Autumn piles my garners high, Still for that little field I sigh. For ah! methinks no otherwhere Is any field so good and fair. Small tho' it be, 'tis better far Than all my fruitful vineyards are, Amid whose plenty sad I pine— "Ah, would the little field were mine!" Large knowledge void of peace and rest, And wealth with pining care possest— These by my fertile lands are meant. That little field is called Content.
In print by 1911 AD · modern
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Meaning not yet available
An individual explanation has not yet been added. We do not substitute a generic description for an interpretation of these particular words.
Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Robertson Trowbridge
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1911 AD · modern
In print by 1911: recorded in The Optimist’s Good Morning (1911). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- The Optimist’s Good Morning (1911) (1911 AD)
Complete signed selection 313; printed byline: Robertson Trowbridge; Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1911; printed copyright 1907
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.