THREE times a day -- at two, at seven, at nine -- O terrier, you play your little part: Absurd in coat and skirt you push a cart, With inner anguish walk a tight-rope line. Up there, before the hot and dazzling shine You must be rigid servant of your art, Nor watch those fluffy cats -- your doggish heart Might leap and then betray you with a whine! But sometimes, when you've faithfully rehearsed, Your trainer takes you walking in the park, Straining to sniff the grass, to chase a frog. The leash is slipped, and then your joy will burst -- Adorable it is to run and bark, To be -- alas, how seldom -- just a dog! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...WAR IS KIND: 12 by STEPHEN CRANE MOTHER NATURE by EMILY DICKINSON SUNSET AND SUNRISE by EMILY DICKINSON ELOISA TO ABELARD by ALEXANDER POPE HOPEFULLY WAITING by ANSON DAVIES FITZ RANDOLPH TO MUSIC; A FRAGMENT by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY |