SWEET from his pipe the piper drew A sound that ravished all men's ears, And soared ethereal to the blue Wherein the skylark disappears. The listening throng, or grave or gay, Were hushed beneath the music's sway. When sudden, on the silver notes, A loud, discordant clamor fell; A shout arose from eager throats: "The market-bell! the market-bell!" Swift rushed the audience from the place; The piper piped to empty space. A bitter story this,—antique, And full of cynic irony. The keen-edged humor of the Greek,— Hath it no sting for thee and me? Or glad, or wise, or sad, or fain, Dear Nature wooes us not in vain! Her mystic measures round us roll, We sit in silence at her feet; And, awed and thrilled, we own control As potent as, alas! 't is fleet. For list! for hark! we know it well— Earth's loud, imperious market bell. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SOJOURN IN THE WHALE by MARIANNE MOORE PHILOMELA by JOHN CROWE RANSOM IN MEMORIAM A.H.H.: PROEM by ALFRED TENNYSON TO HIM THAT WAS CRUCIFIED by WALT WHITMAN AT PORT ROYAL by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER THE TRAGEDY by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM THE LOST LOVE by HARRY RANDOLPH BLYTHE |