Had I the choice to tally greatest bards, To limn their portraits, stately, beautiful, and emulate at will, Homer with all his wars and warriors -- Hector, Achilles, Ajax, Or Shakspere's woe-entangled Hamlet, Lear, Othello -- Tennyson's fair ladies, Metre or wit the best, or choice conceit to wield in perfect rhyme, delight of singers; These, these, O sea, all these I'd gladly barter, Would you the undulation of one wave, its trick to me transfer, Or breathe one breath of yours upon my verse, And leave its odor there. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BALLADE OF DEAD LADIES by FRANCOIS VILLON WE PARTED IN SILENCE by JULIA CRAWFORD WINTER SLEEP by EDITH MATILDA THOMAS THE WATERFALL by HENRY VAUGHAN VERSES FOR CHILDREN: MAPLE TREE by ZEDA K. AILES ODES: BOOK 2: ODE 5. ON LOVE OF PRAISE by MARK AKENSIDE NEW JERSEY by FRED CLARE BALDWIN SIR W. TRELOAR'S DINNER FOR CRIPPLED CHILDREN by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN |