Nobody there is that doesn't love a bean.
If not the royal Navy bean, then the wax bean,
the soybean, the green bean, the black bean—the
pot is large, it contains multitudes—white bean,
pink bean, small red bean, the lowly pinto, the
lovely lentil—let the lamp affix its bean—or
the walnut-shaped garbanzo, large lima bean, baby lima,
(A reunion of the Bean families is here assembled),
the cranberry bean, white kidney bean, northern bean,
or their ed cousins: green split pea, yellow
split pea, and ol' blackeye. A lineup
of likely legumes. Gather ye bean-pods
while ye may. Go and catch a falling bean
and if you catch one, let me know.
A man and a woman are one. A man and a woman
and a bean are one, or two, or three.
The beans I mean, no one has seen them made
or heard them made, but at supper-time
we find them there. Come live with me,
and eat some beans and we will love
within our means. One could do worse
than be an eater of beans.
Shall I compare thee to a summer's bean?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Had we but world enough, and time,
this coyness, Lady, were no crime.
But, at my back, I always hear
a pot of beans bubbling near.
Mark but this bean, and mark in this,
how little that which thou deny'st me is.
An aged bean is but a paltry thing.
I must lie down where all ladders start,
in the foul rag-and-bean shop of the heart.
O my love is like a red, red bean,
that's newly picked in June:
O my love is like a pinto bean,
that's truly cooked at noon.
So much depends upon a red kidney
bean. You might ask, Do I dare
to eat a bean? Dry beans can harm no one.
They remind us of home sweet home,
home on the range,
home where the heart is.
Without expecting anything in return,
they give us protein, zip, and gas.
Add what you will—onion, tomatoes, red
pepper, chili powder, juice of lemon,
salt & pepper to taste. Add ham
hocks, bring to a boil, simmer slowly.
Call your friends, serve with
panache, ers, and green salad.
How do I cook them? Let me count the ways—
boiling, steaming, frying, baking.
And if these verses may thee move,
Sweet Lady, come live with me
and be my love. And if this fare
you disapprove, come live with me
and please be my cook.
(Source:
Bean Soup, Or A Legume Miscellany by Philip Paradis)
Print This Recipe
