Classic and Contemporary Poetry
SNUFF, by ROBERT SOUTHEY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: A delicate pinch! Oh how it tingles up Last Line: And jokes that must be laugh'd at shall proceed. Subject(s): Columbus, Christopher (1451-1506); Explorers; Noses; Pleasure; Snuff (tobacco); Exploring; Discovery; Discoverers | ||||||||
A DELICATE pinch! oh how it tingles up The titillated nose, and fills the eyes And breast, till in one comfortable sneeze The full collected pleasure bursts at last! Most rare Columbus! thou shalt be for this The only Christopher in my kalendar. Why, but for thee, the uses of the nose Were half unknown, and its capacity Of joy. The summer gale that from the heath, At midnoon glittering with the golden furze, Bears its balsamic odours, but provokes, Not satisfies the sense; and all the flowers, That with their unsubstantial fragrance tempt And disappoint, bloom for so short a space, That half the year the nostrils would keep lent, But that the kind tobacconist admits No winter in his work; when nature sleeps His wheels roll on, and still administer A plenitude of joy, a tangible smell. What is Peru and those Brazilian mines To thee, Virginia? miserable realms, They furnish gold for knaves and gems for fools But thine are common comforts! to omit Pipe-panegyric and tobacco praise, Think what the general joy the snuff-box gives, Europe, and far above Pizarro's name Write Raleigh in thy records of renown! Him let the school-boy bless if he behold His master's box produced, for when he sees The thumb and finger of authority Stuff'd up the nostrils, when hat, head, and wig Shake all; when on the waistcoat black the dust Or drop falls brown, soon shall the brow severe Relax, and from vituperative lips Words that of birch remind not, sounds of praise, And jokes that must be laugh'd at shall proceed. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SHACKLETON by MADELINE DEFREES AMERICA IS HARD TO SEE by ROBERT FROST CONCERNING THE RIGHT TO LIFE by JORIE GRAHAM THE HEAD ON THE TABLE by JOHN HAINES PSALM OF THE WEST: SONNET ON COLUMBUS: 1 by SIDNEY LANIER PSALM OF THE WEST: SONNET ON COLUMBUS: 2 by SIDNEY LANIER PSALM OF THE WEST: SONNET ON COLUMBUS: 3 by SIDNEY LANIER PSALM OF THE WEST: SONNET ON COLUMBUS: 4 by SIDNEY LANIER BISHOP BRUNO by ROBERT SOUTHEY |
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