THE bad victorious are, the good lie low; The myrtles are replaced by poplars dry, Through which the evening breezes loudly sigh, Bright flashes take the place of silent glow. -- In vain Parnassus' heights you'll plough and sow, Image on image, flower on flower pile high, In vain you'll struggle till you're like to die, Unless, @3before@1 the egg is laid, you know How to cluck-cluck; and, bulls' horns putting on, Learn to write sage critiques, both pro and con, And your own trumpet blow with decent pride. Write for the mob, not for posterity, Let blustering noise your poems lever be, -- You'll then be by the public deified. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LET ME NOT HATE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON FAREWELL TO FARGO: SELLING THE HOUSE by KAREN SWENSON THE SELF-SEEKER by ROBERT FROST TO A FAT LADY SEEN FROM THE TRAIN by FRANCES CROFTS DARWIN CORNFORD LAMENT FOR [THE DEATH OF] THOMAS DAVIS by SAMUEL FERGUSON TO THE MEMORY OF THE BRAVE AMERICANS UNDER GENERAL GREENE by PHILIP FRENEAU |