"Crime in a Poet, Sirs, to steal a thought?" No, that 'tis not,—if it be good for aught. 'Tis lawful theft: 'tis laudable to boot; 'Tis want of genius if he cannot do't. The fool admires,—the man of sense alone Lights on a happy thought, and makes it all his own, Flies like a bee along the muse's field, Peeps in and tastes what ev'ry flow'r can yield, Free, from the various blossoms that he meets, To pick and cull, and carry home the sweets; While midst a thousand sweets the stingless drone, Sluggishly saunt'ring forth, makes none of them his own. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE LATE SINGER by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS 1914: 4. THE DEAD by RUPERT BROOKE FRAGMENT THIRTY-SIX by HILDA DOOLITTLE WRITTEN IN KEATS' 'ENDYMION' by THOMAS HOOD WITHOUT AND WITHIN by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL |