WHEN Thomas Gray, the famous bard, Wrote that which made him noted, He worked egregiously hard On lines that might be quoted. For seven years, through woes and ills, His Muse was exercising; But Who paid the meat and grocery bills While Gray was elegizing? "No slipshod verses shall be mine," He'd tell the impatient printer. "I'II write it out upon this line If it consumes all winter!" And so he wooed the elusive Muse With zeal uncompromising— But Who kept the little Grays in shoes While Gray was elegizing? We modern minnesingers waste No time, no midnight taper; Our lines are done in fevered haste To catch the waiting paper. We rush the rhymes we write to-day Our guerdon overprizing— Still— Who paid the rent for Mrs. Gray While Gray was elegizing? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HOMAGE TO SEXTUS PROPERTIUS: 10 by EZRA POUND ON LIBERTY AND SLAVERY by GEORGE MOSES HORTON IN A GARRET by ELIZABETH AKERS ALLEN POLYHYMNIA: L'ENVOY by WILLIAM BASSE THE CONSOLATION by ANNE BRONTE ONCE IN A WHILE by W. FRANCIS CHAMBERS OLNEY HYMNS: 27. WELCOME TO THE TABLE by WILLIAM COWPER |