(TO ONE WHO ASKED WHY HE WROTE IT) YOU ask me what was his intent? In truth I'm not a German; -- 'Tis plain though that he neither meant A Lecture nor a Sermon. But there it is, the thing's a Fact. I find no other reason But that some scribbling itch attacked Him in and out of season, To write what no one else should read, -- With this for second meaning, To 'cleanse his bosom' (and indeed It sometimes wanted cleaning); To speak, as 'twere, his private mind Unhindered by repression, To make his motley life a kind Of Midas' ears confession; And thus outgrew this work per se, -- This queer, kaleidoscopic, Delightful, blabbing, vivid, free Hotch-pot of daily topic, So artless in its vanity, So fleeting, so eternal, So packed with 'poor Humanity' -- We know as Pepys his Journal. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A MOTHER TO HER SICK CHILD by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES PALINGENESIS by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW A MORNING THOUGHT by EDWARD ROWLAND SILL THE COWARD by LAWRENCE ALMA-TADEMA PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 39. AL-HAFIZ by EDWIN ARNOLD SLOW TO COME, QUICK A-GONE by WILLIAM BARNES THE GOLDEN ODES OF PRE-ISLAMIC ARABIA: ANTARA by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT |