What is a man? A bit of clay The rain dissolves and floats away; A diamond of lustre rare, Forever firm, forever fair; A bubble dancing on the stream, An empty film, a bursting gleam; A king upon a dateless throne, With all eternity his own; A mockery of love and hate, The play of time, the sport of fate; The conqueror of endless life, Victorious in every strife; Compact of virtue and of sin, Creation's matchless harlequin; And each of these, in devious plan, Discernible in every man! Why, what Superior Scientist, What Erudite Anatomist, Could pick these creatures from the bog, And classify and catalogue? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MERCILES BEAUTE; A TRIPLE ROUNDEL: 3. ESCAPE by GEOFFREY CHAUCER EASTER WINGS by GEORGE HERBERT A GIRL OF POMPEII by EDWARD SANDFORD MARTIN THE MOWER TO THE GLOW-WORMS by ANDREW MARVELL PATROLING BARNEGAT by WALT WHITMAN COMPLAINS OF THE COURT by PHILIP AYRES THE SCHOOLROOM OF POETS by WILLIAM ROSE BENET VALEDICTORY; THE SCHOLAR TO THE ASHES OF HIS LIBRARY by CHARLES WILLIAM BRODRIBB |