To A. S. BIRTHDAYS? yes, in a general way; For the most if not for the best of men; You were born (I suppose) on a certain day; So was I: or perhaps in the night: what then? Only this: or at least, if more, You must know, not think it, and learn, not speak; There is truth to be found on the unknown shore, And many will find where few will seek. For many are called and few are chosen, And the few grow many as ages lapse; But when will the many grow few: what dozen Is fused into one by Time's hammer-taps? A bare brown stone in a babbling brook:-- It was wanton to hurl it there, you say: And the moss, which clung in the sheltered nook (Yet the stream runs cooler), is washed away. That begs the question: many a prater Thinks such a suggestion a sound 'stop thief!' Which, may I ask, do you think the greater Sergeant-at-arms or a Robber Chief? And if it were not so? still you doubt? Ah! yours is a birthday indeed if so. That were something to write a poem about, If one thought a little. I only know. P.S. There's a Me Society down at Cambridge, Where my works, cum notis variorum, Are talked about; well, I require the same bridge That Euclid took toll at as Asinorum: And, as they have got through several ditties I thought were as stiff as a brick-built wall, I've composed the above, and a stiff one it is, A bridge to stop asses at, once for all. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE UNIVERSITY OF GOTTINGEN by GEORGE CANNING ON THE DEATH OF MRS. (NOW LADY) THROCKMORTON'S BULLFINCH by WILLIAM COWPER THE MOSS ROSE by FRIEDRICH ADOLF KRUMMACHER A VISION UPON [THIS CONCEIT] OF THE FAERIE QUEENE (2) by WALTER RALEIGH THE FIELD MOUSE by WILLIAM SHARP BALLAD: THE THINGS OF NO ACCOUNT by FRANCOIS VILLON THE LOVER: A BALLAD by MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU |