Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


CLOWN AND KING by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON

First Line: HOOP-LA, HEY! CRIED THE CLOWN IN THE RING
Last Line: LIFE'S WOVEN GOOD-AND-ILL.
Subject(s): CLOWNS; COURTS & COURTIERS; GOD; GRIEF; LIFE; ROYAL COURT LIFE; ROYALTY; KINGS; QUEENS; SORROW; SADNESS;

HOOP-LA, hey! cried the clown in the ring,
(Weep, weep, said his heart.)
Alackaday! sighed the stately king,
(Leap, leap, said his heart.)

The clown's dear daughter lay a-dying,
And so his painted face was trying
To veil an anguished mind.

The king's chief rival lay a-dying;
His grief was mock, for he was trying
To make the big world blind.

Whene'er I fear there is no God,
But blindest force in star and sod,
A whisper says: There must be One
To read beneath what things are done
And grasp the doer's will;
The clown's wrung heart,
The king's cold art,
Life's woven good-and-ill.



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