Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, KEEP IT DARK, by HENRY CHAPPELL


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

KEEP IT DARK, by                    
First Line: Lest you deem these lines belated
Last Line: Just to alter things and keep it to ourselves.
Subject(s): Death; Heaven; Dead, The; Paradise


LEST you deem these lines belated,
I should wish it clearly stated
I have precedents galore for my defection.
For it seems the ruling passion,
I might almost say the fashion,
To keep anything like hurry in subjection.

Now I'm but an humble scribe,
(Quite a too prolific tribe);
And there's many things I cannot see quite clearly;
But I think it's quite de trop
For to let the Germans know
Any facts that touch our safety very nearly.

If one gave an indication
Too precise of the location,
And the damage done by hostile aviator,
All the Realm's Acts, stringent laws,
Section, chapter, page and clause
Would be trotted out to brand him as a traitor.

Yet I read it, plainly printed,
Cold and hard, not merely hinted,
That we've not sufficient cannon to go round;
And as for bagging Zepps,
Up to now the only steps
In some antiquated maxims has been found.

There are other things they tell,
But I think it quite as well
To let one instance serve as illustration.
And it seems, at least to me,
That quite gratis and post free
It is giving foes some useful information.

If things don't work out quite straight,
Well, whose fault is it we're late,
And that plans of import moulder on the shelves?
But enough, it seems to me
That the wiser course would be
Just to alter things and keep it to ourselves.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net