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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THIS WORLD by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES

Poet Analysis

First Line: WHO DREAMS A SWEETER LIFE THAN THIS
Last Line: THEM BY THE BODY'S GLUTTONY.

Who dreams a sweeter life than this,
To stand and stare, when at this fence,
Back into those dumb creatures' eyes,
And think we have their innocence --
Our looks as open as the skies.

Lambs with their legs and noses black,
Whose woolly necks, so soft and white,
Can take away the children's breath;
Who'd strangle them in their delight --
And calves they'd worry half to death.

This world's too full of those dull men
Who ne'er advance from that first state
Which opens mouth before the eye;
Who, when they think of dumb things, rate
Them by the body's gluttony.



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