Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE ROVER, by LOUISE AYRES GARNETT


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE ROVER, by                    
First Line: The day is full of busy-ness
Last Line: And make me sleep till day?
Subject(s): Human Behavior; Conduct Of Life; Human Nature


The day is full of busy-ness --
A running to and fro,
Helping Lord God to wag the world
The way the world should go.
But when the day has shut up shop
And I must off to bed,
Oh then it is and when it is
That I would rove instead!
I would lest Arabia
Should feel herself neglected;
And what of Greece, I wonder,
Where so long I've been expected?
And Zanzibar, and Salvador,
What must they think of me
Who've been so slow responding
To their hospitality?
What if the Trees of Lebanon
All change to mast and keel
Before I loiter in their shade
And tell them what I feel?
I know my duties through the day --
I help Lord God along.
Oiling this and lifting that
And pushing straight and strong;
But why, when night swashbuckles in
And beckons me away,
Does Lord God steer me into bed
And make me sleep till day?





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