Some bugs will sting and bite, and some Pretend to bite, but only hum. The first we fear, if we are wise; The second, fear, and then despise. But, after all, why rage and stew When humbugs merely tickle you? Why is it not a glorious thing That humbugs hum and do not sting? Why should we not rejoice, and praise The humbug's mild, alarming ways? He gives us all the glow and thrill Of fierce attack, without the ill. He brings the drum, the flag, the yell, And leaves at home the shot and shell. Where biting bugs in silence come, He warns us with a kindly hum. Where other bugs take all they find, He only leaves a laugh behind. So let us praise, by day and night, The bug that hums and does not bite. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FIRST FIG by EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY THE JACOBITE ON TOWER HILL by GEORGE WALTER THORNBURY THE LIVING GOD by ABRAHAM IBN EZRA YOU MAY REMEMBER by LULU PIPER AIKEN SONG, BY -- by JAMES HAY BEATTIE FALSORUM DEORUM CULTOR by WILLIAM ROSE BENET IN VINCULIS; SONNETS WRITTEN IN AN IRISH PRISON: THE TWO VOICES by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT |