I'm a lean dog, a keen dog, a wild dog, and lone; I'm a rough dog, a tough dog, hunting on my own; I'm a bad dog, a mad dog, teasing silly sheep; I love to sit and bay the moon, to keep fat souls from sleep. I'll never be a lap dog, licking dirty feet, A sleek dog, a meek dog, cringing for my meat, Not for me the fireside, the well-filled plate, But shut door, and sharp stone, and cuff and kick, and hate. Not for me the other dogs, running by my side, Some have run a short while, but none of them would bide. O mine is still the lone trail, the hard trail, the best, Wide wind, and wild stars, and hunger of the quest! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AND WHAT SHALL YOU SAY? by JOSEPH SEAMON COTTER JR. ON FIRST ENTERING WESTMINSTER ABBEY by LOUISE IMOGEN GUINEY TROAS: ACT II. LATTER END OF THE CHORUS by LUCIUS ANNAEUS SENECA CUPID AND CAMPASPE, FR. ALEXANDER AND CAMPASPE by JOHN LYLY JONAH'S SONG, FR. MOBY DICK by HERMAN MELVILLE CROSSING THE PLAINS by CINCINNATUS HEINE MILLER WHO WALKS WITH BEAUTY by DAVID MORTON |