Such a reasonable irrational fellow goodhumored and reliable too since the occasional scorching is someone else's fault No wonder the ancients frankly adored him and if their solemnity seems now simpleminded nevertheless he is highly esteemed and honored more than sometimes appears A landlord who never asks for the rent is hardly to be despised And what does he care for but to be good company with everything and to promote the common welfare by maintaining the regularity of public occasions Unhappily although he desires nothing but calm and abhors the solitary he dwells alone burning with a million fires. Used with the permission of Copper Canyon Press, P.O. Box 271, Port Townsend, WA 98368-0271, www.cc.press.org | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...IN GRANTCHESTER MEADOWS; ON HEARING A SKYLARK SING by GEORGE SANTAYANA THE FOREFATHER by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON OLD SUSAN by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE SIGNS OF THE TIMES by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR SOULS LAKE by ROBERT STUART FITZGERALD MONTEREY [SEPTEMBER 23, 1846] by CHARLES FENNO HOFFMAN TWILIGHT AT THE HEIGHTS by CINCINNATUS HEINE MILLER |