Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A LOUNGER, by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A LOUNGER, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: He leaned against a lamp-post, lost
Last Line: No happiness has ever been.
Alternate Author Name(s): Johnson Of Boone, Benj. F.
Subject(s): Idleness; Laziness; Sloth; Indolence


HE leaned against a lamp-post, lost
In some mysterious reverie:
His head was bowed; his arms were crossed;
He yawned, and glanced evasively:
Uncrossed his arms, and slowly put
Them back again, and scratched his side --
Shifted his weight from foot to foot,
And gazed out no-ward, idle-eyed.

Grotesque of form and face and dress,
And picturesque in every way --
A figure that from day to day
Drooped with a limper laziness;
A figure such as artists lean,
In pictures where distress is seen,
Against low hovels where we guess
No happiness has ever been.





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