A SKILFUL leech, so long as we were whole: Who scann'd the nation's every outward part But ah! misheard the beating of its heart. Sire of huge sorrows, yet erect of soul. Swift rider with calamity for goal, Who, overtasking his equestrian art, Unstall'd a steed full willing for the start, But wondrous hard to curb or to control. Sometimes we thought he led the people forth: Anon he seemed to follow where they flew: Lord of the golden tongue and smiting eyes; Great out of season and untimely wise: A man whose virtue, genius, grandeur, worth, Wrought deadlier ill than ages can undo. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...COMPLAINT by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS REAR-PORCHES OF AN APARTMENT-BUILDING by MAXWELL BODENHEIM SONNET: 97 by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE THE ADIEU, TO A FRIEND LEAVING SUFFOLK by BERNARD BARTON A CONNOISSEUR by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN |