Shall I collect for this world's eyes My sins in birds or butterflies; Shall I keep useless things around, For ornament, and sell my hound? When I give poor dumb things my cares, Let all men know I've said my prayers. That man who sells for gain his hound, May he be robbed and beaten found; May men that shoot sweet singing-birds Be robbed of power to utter words; May men that torture things alive Live for a hundred years, and have Their wretched bodies stabbed with pains, Until their toe-nails pierce their brains. My love for dumb things is intense: I cannot walk beside a fence And see the horses in a row, Staring, but I must say Hallo! And when I see two horses lean Across a gate that stands between Them as they kiss each other there -- For no man's company I care. I hate to leave the calf when he, Licking his tongue, still follows me, To lick again at my old clothes. A lamb that lets me stroke his nose Can make me feel a battle won That had ten soldiers to my one. I'd rather see the sheep and kine Than any troops that march in line, With all their colours in the light, Helmets and scabbards shining bright. When I give robins cheerful words, I'm pleased to see those grateful birds Try on their little feet to dance, And eyeing me with consequence. Had I at home a talking bird That would repeat a wicked word, I would not care a fig or apple For my own hymns in church or chapel. Had I a monkey that would drink My ale and, when I sit to think, Would mock me with his scornful cries -- I, thinking less, would grow more wise; With him I'd sit and drink and play, And save the world this worthless lay. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO A FRIEND IN THE MAKING by MARIANNE MOORE TOMMY [ATKINS] by RUDYARD KIPLING A PARAPHRASE ON THE PRAYER, USED IN THE CHURCH LITURGY by JOHN BYROM IN THE HILLS by CHARLES BADGER CLARK JR. THE BLIND GIRL by NATHALIA CRANE PARTED by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES MARTHA by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE |